I Share A Motel Room With A Goddess- Champion of Olympus Prequel Story
by HephaestusBuilds
Summary: A set of Prequel Stories set before my "Champion of Olympus" story, depicting when Percy teamed up with Artemis on a quest and earned her respect and trust. While running into a few awkward moments along the way. For my two year anniversary of being on FF. The start of many Percy Jackson fics. (Friendship Pertemis, strictly a Percabeth story), Post Books. Canon to my "COO" series
1. I Run Into A Goddess In The Woods

Chapter 1: I Run Into A Goddess In The Woods

 **(Author's Note)**

 **Hey everyone! You guys have NO IDEA how excited I am to start this story! This is part 1/3 of a prequel story for my upcoming "Champion of Olympus" story. There are several things that I want to include in the story that happened before the story really starts, so I figured that a few prequel stories would be a good idea to tell them.**

" **Champion of Olympus" is strictly a Percabeth story, so you might be wondering why this has Percy and Artemis in it. Well that's because while I am a huge Percabeth shipper I do like Pertemis as well, I really like their dynamic so I decided to make this a FRIENDSHIP Pertemis story. Artemis and her Hunters also play a big role in the main story as well so I had to do some set up for it. That's what this story is, set up for my main story. So please give this a chance and if you like it then let me know and I'll be even more motivated to get the first main chapter out.**

 **Let me give a few clarifications for this story, they're important, so please take a second and read them:**

 **First, I plan to write another prequel story or two that will actually take place before this one. So I will mostly be skipping over a few things that will be explained in them so that I don't give out any spoilers right now. Mostly being how Percy obtained his Title, what it is, as well as new weapon. I'll give a basic explanation in this story but you'll have to read the other stories when they come out to get the full story.**

 **Second, I will be giving Percy the Curse of Achilles back in this story, I never really liked how Uncle Rick took it away in Son of Neptune just so that Percy wouldn't outclass the other demigods. Which he does regardless, I've done some research and do you guys have any idea how OP Percy is? He's insane. Anyway, I'll give a brief explanation for why it's back in this story. The Curse of Achilles also plays a part in the main story, so that's another reason why it's back.**

 **I will be giving a little teaser/description for "Champion of Olympus" after the end of chapter 3, so make sure that you check that out when it comes out.**

 **With that being said please leave a Review, Follow/Favorite and vote in my Poll on my Profile for my next stories. My PJ story is on there but since I have a general anime audience it doesn't have any votes, I wish to get a book audience as well. Hopefully you guys will vote for PJ because I want to write that story next.** _ **Hint hint, wink wink.**_

 **Enjoy the story, Hephaestus**

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Chapter 1: I Run Into A Goddess In The Woods

Have you ever run into someone somewhere you wouldn't expect? Like one of your old teachers at the grocery store? Maybe an ex at the gas station? Or your pastor in a speedo at the beach? Well, I'm having one of those moments right now, except the person I've ran into is more of a _Goddess_ than a person. And by run into her I mean almost get shot in the chest by one of her arrows.

 _Wait_ , let me start at the beginning, you probably have no idea what I'm talking about. This may take awhile, I've had a confusing life. You've been warned.

My name is Perseus Jackson, call me Percy. I'm eighteen years old, though I've been told by some of the Aphrodite girls that I look older. Don't know how I should take that but I'll take it as a compliment. Who's Aphrodite? Well, she's a Goddess, plain and simple. An immortal being that rules over it's own Domain. In Aphrodite's case it's Love. I'm what you'd call a demigod. What does a demigod do, you might ask. _Well_ , as far as I've been able to piece together after eighteen years, we mostly just try to not die a horrible, painful, grizzly death. I've been pretty lucky so far, considering I've been able to reach the age of eighteen despite everything I've been through. Making it into adulthood is rare for a demigod, at least for us Greeks, the Romans have more luck in that department. Being able to reach adulthood, marry and have kids, I mean.

Which has been on my mind recently. I have a girlfriend if you can believe it. Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom, she's more beautiful than Aphrodite herself to me, not that I'd tell Aphrodite that, of course. A girl that I've had a crush on since I first met her six years ago. We had a... rough start, but we've been together over two years now. Now, I've never been much of a 'planning ahead' kind of guy, that's Annabeth's department, but when it comes to Annabeth I have my entire life planned out; Move in together at Camp before college in New Rome, get engaged when the time is right, never mind when or where, carry the ring at all times just in case. Marry after college, small event, only close friends and families. On the beach outside of Camp, of course, kiss at sundown. Then, when we're in a stable enough place, have kids. Only one at first, so that we can get the hang of the whole parenthood thing, but more to follow. At least one. A girl and a boy preferably. My mom wants a girl so that she can have a granddaughter. I don't disappoint my mom, if it takes seven kids we'll have a girl.

But here's the thing, I haven't exactly run this past Annabeth. Yeah, I've basically told her that I want to be with her for the rest of my life when I asked her to move in with me, more on that later, but I've had these thoughts since we've started dating and I never told her because I was worried that she'd think I was thinking too far ahead. But we've been together for slightly over two years and been through Tartarus together, meaning that _nothing_ on or below Olympus would keep me away from her. So that's why I woke her up early this morning to talk before our daily events at Camp. Something that I'd normally _never_ do, mind you, so I made sure to have coffee ready at our dining room table. _Our_ dining room, it's always nice saying that. We live together in one of the newly built apartments modeled off the ones in New Rome. My idea, by the way. Annabeth was so jealous that she didn't come up with it.

Annabeth is adorable in the morning, she always has a bedhead, her long blonde hair all over the place. I think it's cute. She just grumbled at me and asked for coffee. We sat down and were about to have one of the most important conversations of our lives when the doorbell rang.

Nothing ever turns out how I plan it. Story of my life.

Long story short I was asked to go on a mission by Chiron to investigate some strange monster sightings in Wyoming. Which is why I am now slowly trudging through a frosty forest in Wyoming at dawn in early winter instead of sleeping in the same, _warm_ bed as my girlfriend. _Just_ sleeping, mind you. We've already pissed of Hera, the Goddess of Marriage enough, we've decided to wait until we're married.

So this where I tie in my earlier comment about almost being shot in the chest by an arrow. Sorry, ADHD, plus I've been out here for over a week and I miss my bed at Camp, I'm tired. And _very_ cold. Here's how it happened:

I was walking through several inches of snow in some dense brush in the middle of a Wyoming forest looking for signs of a monster. Chiron had heard reports about a small mining town being attacked by what they claimed to be a 'monster'. We were skeptical, of course. Monsters don't just make themselves seen to regular humans, nor do they attack them, usually. But Chiron was asked to look into it so naturally, he asked me to do it. Look, I've had my fill of monsters, but when Chiron told me that people were getting attacked, I had to help. It wasn't an official quest, so Chiron said I had to go alone, I'd attract less attention that way. He also said that he trusted that I'd be able to handle whatever I ran into by myself, me being given the Title 'Demigod of Storms and Earthquakes' by Zeus and all. Another long story, but one day some younger Titans decided to attack the original Olympus for whatever reason, we never really figured out why. Since the gods couldn't leave the U.S they asked us to do it, of course. So Annabeth and I lead a large number of Campers to Greece to fight off the Titans. Needless to say we were no match for them without help. So my dad, against the explicit orders of Zeus, lended me his Trident to give me the power to fight the Titans one on one. I can't remember exactly what happened, because as soon as I touched the Trident my mind went fuzzy, but Annabeth said, and I quote "The earth shook as if Gaea did a belly flop and then a hurricane the size of Australia itself appeared and washed the Titans and monsters out to sea." She claims it was not an exaggeration. She also said later that while terrifying, I looked really hot. Which I'll take.

So to finish off this little tangent and get back to my story, Zeus was pissed that I used a godly weapon but had to spare my life since I saved their butts, again. He offered me Immortality for the third time, which I turned down, he wasn't happy as you would expect. Eventually they decided to give me a Title, 'Demigod of Storms and Earthquakes' as thanks. I didn't get it at first, but I was told that I was the first demigod to earn a Title like this. Not only did I earn an honorary Title, my father granted me Domain over Storms and Earthquakes, two things that he had Domain over. He also had Hephaestus craft me my own Trident that would increase my control over water that I am able to store on a Trident pendant on my necklace next to my Camp beads. So quite literally I was equal to or even above some minor gods in power. I as well received random offerings from people and spirits who wished for storms to stop. That one took some getting used to, I'd wake up with burnt food offerings on my dining table. I was told later that it was _Artemis_ that eventually persuaded Zeus to not disintegrate me on the spot and give me a Title. She's always seemed like a daddy's girl to me, the only god who can make him do whatever she wants. I wouldn't tell that to her face if I were you. Speaking of Artemis, she just shot an arrow at my chest.

I noticed the faintest of sounds coming from some bushes to my right and was about to raise my sword when an arrow burst through the snow covered leaves straight at me. Without even realizing how I did it, I managed to catch the arrow in my left hand a few inches in front of my chest.

' _Thank you Apollo Cabin for teaching me that.'_ I thanked inwardly, ready to attack but when a twelve year old girl dressed in silver tunic and black leggings burst out of the white bushes and started yelling at me, I lowered my sword.

"How in Tartarus did you catch my arrow so-oh, Perseus," She seemed to finally recognize me through the falling snow and trees. Her voice turned more kind, or at least as kind as it gets. "I was unaware that it was you. I apologize for my outburst."

I shook off the shock and bowed my head slightly to her. Best to not tick her off so early in the morning. "It is okay, Lady Artemis. But um… why did you shoot an arrow at me, if you don't mind me asking?" I held up the arrow to her, she walked over and took it from my hand before putting it back in her quiver. She looked at me all over, as if trying to figure me out.

"How did you manage to catch my arrow, Perseus?" She demanded but in an unaggressive way.

I shrugged, scratching the back of my neck nervously. "I've been training with some of the Apollo kids, Luis has been trying to show me how to do it for weeks. But I've never managed to do it before."

Artemis studied me before answering. "Well your life was never on the line before." She nodded to herself, thinking and her bow disappeared in a light silver glow. "Well, be that as it may, it is a very impressive feat to catch one of my arrows."

This surprised me, did Artemis just… _compliment_ me? "...Um, thanks."

She waved it off. "Think nothing of it. I would expect nothing less of someone who has been given a Title as well as had the Curse of Achilles fully restored. It took some time after it was washed away from Roman water, but it finally returned back to you. A Curse like that cannot be removed so easily."

"You heard about that?" I asked abruptly, then I caught myself. "Sorry, I mean I didn't expect you to know-"

"Of course I know." She interrupted me. "I make it my business to keep an eye on powerful beings in my Wilds. And you, Perseus Jackson, with your abilities, training, Title as well as the Curse of Achilles, _are_. Very powerful indeed." She seemed to be saying it more to herself than to me, in my opinion. I decided to not say anything about it.

Again, another compliment. Today was a weird day. I looked around us but didn't see anyone. "Are your Hunters with you?" I asked. I might be able to say hi to Thalia.

The short goddess shook her head. "No, I am travelling alone at the moment. On the hunt for a Monster that was reported to be living around here."

"Really?" I asked. "Me too. Chiron sent me out here to figure out what it is and stop it if need be."

Her face was blank so I couldn't read it but I could tell she was thinking. "I have no clue as to what the Monster is yet, but it has proven itself to be elusive to track. As well as dangerous, I pulled my Hunters off the Hunt after it gravely injured several of them."

"Really?" I asked worriedly. "Is Thalia-"

She raised a hand to calm me. "Do not fear, young hero, Thalia is unharmed. My Hunters will be fine as well, they will heal soon enough."

"Good." I said, letting out a visible breath in the freezing air. "Well then we better track down this monster before it hurts anyone else. If it can take on your Hunters then the Mortals around here are in danger."

"We?" She asked skeptically, her thin eyebrow raised.

I nodded my head. "Yeah, if this Monster is as bad as you say it is, then you'll need all the help you can get-" I put my hand over my mouth, what the _Hades_ did I just say? Did I _want_ to die? "I'm sorry, Lady Artemis, I did not mean to-"

She interrupted me again with a raised hand. "Be thankful that I think highly of you, Perseus Jackson." I swear I saw her hide a smirk but I dismissed it. "I would punish any other male for that by turning him into a Jackalope."

I had no reply for that that wouldn't get me turned into a Jackalope. "Uh…"

Artemis ignored my inability to form a basic sentence and pulled a small silver whistle from her bag, blew on it and after a few seconds when nothing happened, grumbled to herself. "Lady Artemis?" I asked hesitantly, curious what the problem was. She looked up to me as she put the whistle back in her bag.

"My Golden Reindeer refuse to come to me. So I am without my Chariot, so I must travel on foot." She nodded to me and began to turn away. "My apologies, Demigod of Storms and Earthquakes, but I have far to travel and you could not keep up with me, in this terrain especially."

She managed to take a few steps before I called out to her. "We can take my car."

This made the goddess stop and do a double take. She gave me a slightly confused face. I found it hilarious on her normally serious face but didn't comment on it. "Pardon?"

I held up my car keys. "My pegasi, Blackjack, won't come to me either. I drove here." I pointed back where I came from. "My car is just a few minutes walk back to the road. We can take the road further into the woods. According to the map it goes for awhile. Besides, it's below freezing right now… my car has a heater and blankets. We can warm up on the way."

She gave me the look like she wasn't sure whether or not I was telling a joke. "Are you offering to give _me_ , a goddess, a ride so that I don't have to run through the snow?"

' _Well now that you say it aloud, it does sound stupid.'_

"It is very generous of you. I will accept your offer." She spoke evenly.

' _Well I didn't see that coming.'_ I mentally shook my head and decided to answer out loud this time. "Uh, ok, sure. Yeah, no problem."

Real smooth, Percy.

We started to head back to where I left my car. It was a little awkward walking in silence like that so I asked her a question. "Do you have any idea why Blackjack or your Reindeer won't come to us?"

The goddess hummed to herself, with my height advantage I could see snow accumulating on her drawn hood. "I believe that the presence of whatever monster we are hunting is scaring them off. Though," She raised her hand to her chin in thought. "My Reindeer don't normally fear other monsters like this. Whatever we are hunting must be enormously powerful."

"Sounds like fun." I joked. She frowned at me, apparently it was the wrong thing to say.

"You know as well as I do how powerful some beings can be, Perseus." She surveyed the woods around us as we walked. Her eyes tracked every falling leaf and her ears followed every sound around us in the blank, colorless landscape. "The only reason why I am allowing you to travel with me is because I have faith in your abilities. I ordered my Hunters to leave because of the danger. Prove to me that you are worthy of my faith."

My head lowered a little. "Yes ma'am."

"Lovely." She nodded. "A fair amount of respect is necessary to stand _beside_ me." She stopped walking and looked right at me, her voice turned serious and I heard her stress ' _beside'_. "I hold you in high regard, male or not. You have proven to me that you can be trusted and honorable. You took the weight of the sky from me, faced off Titans and giants alone. An incredibly impressive feat. I have seen you perform truly olympian tasks…"

She took a step closer, using her hand to slightly raise my chin. I found myself looking directly into her silver eyes. They were frightening and kind at the same time. "So do not turn into a spineless man." My eyes widened, a smile formed at the corner of her mouth. "Show me the respect I deserve, but don't turn into a pushover and a weakling. You will make me look foolish for endorsing you."

She then immediately turned back to where we were heading and started walking away. Leaving me a confused mess. After a few seconds I caught back up to her. I didn't want to say anything, but she was going the wrong way back to my car. When I caught back up she followed my lead without a word and walked besides me like nothing happened.

The silence was killing me. I wanted to ask something but I had no idea what game she was playing. As if she read my mind she spoke up.

"You may speak freely, Perseus. You no longer need my permission. You haven't for many years." It still shocked me that this twelve year old girl walking besides me in the woods was a goddess. It definitely took some getting used to.

"I uh, so you want me to act normal around you?" I asked hesitantly.

"If you can." She said smoothly.

I had to do a double take to make sure I heard that right. "Wait, did you just make a joke?" I asked, laughing. "I never knew you could."

Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "I most assuredly _did not_." She sounded slightly affronted. "I do not _joke_. I am a goddess of Olympus."

I held up my hands in surrender. "Okay okay, no jokes. Got it." She looked like she was going to say something else but thankfully that's when we reached my car. She looked disapprovingly at it as I brushed off the fresh snow on my door with my coat sleeve.

"...Is there a problem, Lady Artemis?" I asked as I unlocked the doors and opened my own. I paused for a second and looked at her as she stood outside the passenger door. "What, do you want me to open the door for you? Is that proper protocol for this type of thing? I've never given a goddess a ride before."

She gave me a look like I was an idiot before promptly opening the door herself and throwing my coffee thermos and backpack into the backseat. I got into the car as well and started up the engine, turning on the heat immediately. "I have never ridden inside of a mortal vehicle before. Only the magical ones that my idiot brother drives around in." She said.

I put on my seatbelt and was about to tell her to do the same before remembering who this was. A literal goddess, she'd be fine. I started to slowly drive down the dirt road. "Well this is one hundred percent mortal technology, no fancy flying or anything."

She looked around the car as if she were evaluating it. I noticed how her eyes caught the coffee spill on the dashboard, the tear in the seat, my supplies and sleeping bag thrown haphazardly into my back seats. She sniffed once. "Have you been sleeping in here?"

Apparently my car smelled too, just peachy. "Uh, yeah. I've been out here for over a week. Living out of my car the entire time. It's _way_ too cold to sleep outside in this snow." I grabbed a plastic water bottle off the dashboard and threw it into the back. "Sorry about the mess."

She gave the car one last glance over before returning her eyes to the front. "It is alright. All things considered, it is not too messy." Her eyes caught sight of a picture taped to my center console. It was of Annabeth and I at the beach celebrating my last birthday. "I assume that you and Annabeth are still together?" She asked evenly.

I glanced at the picture before returning my eyes to the winding road. I smiled. "Yeah, still happily together after two years."

She nodded. "Good. I would not be able to assure your safety if you were to hurt her. Be it from her mother, her hands, or my own." She clenched her fist in demonstration.

I didn't know what to say to that but I gave it my best shot. "...Well, I'd never do anything to hurt her." I assured her. "Annabeth is the best thing that's ever happened to me. There's no way in _Hades_ that I'd ever risk losing her."

She nodded gently. "That is wise. Annabeth is one of the most extraordinary females I have ever met."

"Really?" I asked.

"Yes." She said as her eyes scanned trees around us. It was still several hours to the next point on our map. "As you know I asked her to join my Hunters but she turned down my offer."

"I remember."

"..." She seemed like she was going to say something before thinking it over in her head. She looked over me as if I were a puzzle to solve. She didn't speak up for another minute. "...I would trust no other male… but with you…" She seemed like she was having trouble putting her thoughts into words. "I feel that you would honor her. Despite her being an adult she is still a maiden, meaning she is under my protection. I would do anything in my power to protect them and do what is best for them, however…"

After she didn't say anything for a few seconds I gave her a cautious look. "However?" I asked.

"...However I feel that it would be best for her to be with you." She looked me dead in the eyes with her piercing orbs. "If you were to ask for her hand in marriage I would give you my blessing as the goddess of Maidens." She ended with what I assume was a kind smile, however it was unexpected so I didn't know what to think.

It was silent in the car for a solid minute as I tried to process what I just heard. I didn't know what to say or to think. "Uh, um… thanks-I mean, we haven't talked much about getting married but thank you for giving me your blessing." I smiled in thanks. But something confused me. "I didn't know you gave out blessings for that. I thought that Hera-"

"Hera is the goddess of Marriage, yes, but since I am the goddess of Maidens I also look after young women who are going to be married." She interrupted me. Then she shrugged and leaned back into the seat, finally relaxing after constantly surveying the trees around us as we drove. "But if you were to propose to Annabeth then you would need more than my blessing, of course."

I nodded. "Yeah, I'd need to ask her dad first. Same as with her mom."

"More than that." She started as she brought her travel bag onto her lap and started digging in it. She pulled out a metal water bottle and drank from it. "As a demigod your marriage would be more complicated than a mortal one."

"How do you mean?" I asked. "Because both of our parents are gods?"

She nodded, putting the water bottle back in her bag and reaching to put it in the back with my stuff. "Yes. Your marriage would entail uniting two families. Poseidon and Athena, both of whom have had a rivalry for millennia. A child of Poseidon has _never_ married a child of Athena. I am unaware if two of their children have ever even _gotten along_ before. If you were to ask Annabeth to marry you then you would need to convince Athena and Poseidon to put aside their differences and unite their families."

"But aren't they already a family?" I asked. "Athena is Poseidon's niece, right? What kind of difference would it really make? I mean, we're just mortals. We'll die before the gods even blink. What's the big deal?"

She shook her head. "You forget that we gods must play by ancient laws. Marriage, for us, at least, is more definite than with you mortals." She eyed a doe that stood at the edge of the road as we drove past. "Take my father and Hera for example. They are brother and sister, family, but once they married they became something different. Their fates intertwined, became one. Marriage is sacred for us, even if most of us seem to forget that." She mumbled, probably referring to Zeus' many illegitimate children, including herself. "They united, in the eyes of the Fates, they are one. If you were to marry Annabeth then your house and hers would come together. Your parents would have to put aside their childish rivalry and unite."

"...And I'm guessing some gods won't like that?" I asked.

She nodded. "Yes. My father would think of it as them uniting against him. He is already suspicious of every god on the council. Your father and Athena uniting would just further his paranoia."

I was quiet for a few minutes as I took all this in. I figured that talking Athena into letting me marry Annabeth would be hard, but I didn't realize it came with a lot of other problems as well. Would my dad be willing to let me marry Annabeth? Most likely, he really liked her and always asked how she was doing whenever we saw each other. But Athena on the other hand… would _not_ be as easy. She didn't really like me to begin with, not even taking into account who my dad is. I honestly had no idea if she _would_ agree.

"There is more to it, actually." Artemis said out of the blue as I was still thinking. "You would also have to ask Aphrodite to give you her blessing as well. She will read your hearts and see if you really love each other." She then tilted her head in thought, touching one finger to her chin in thought. "But I assume that she would give you her blessing, she seems to like your love life. "Full of wonderful drama" as she put it when I last saw her.."

I raised my brow. "You talk to Aphrodite about my love life?" I asked, shocked.

"Pffft!" She made an unladylike noise and ended with a chuckle. " _I do not_ discuss your love life. Nor do I have much interest in it besides making sure that Annabeth is treated correctly. _Aphrodite_ ," She said the goddess of Love's name like she recently annoyed her. "Came to my Hunters to see a daughter of hers and ended up retelling your entire "love life" to me. It was nauseating."

"I-well I always knew she-wait." I said, running what she said back in my head. "You said visiting a daughter of hers? One of your Hunters is a daughter of Aphrodite?"

"Yes." She nodded, trying her best to angle the sun visor in a way that blocked the morning sun that currently shown into her eyes. But thanks to her short stature she wasn't tall enough for the visor to block the sun from getting into her eyes. She grumbled under her breath. "Helen, one of my newest Hunters. However, she refused to see her mother, they… don't exactly see eye to eye on things, as you would imagine. So Aphrodite decided to talk to me instead, about _you_."

I didn't know what to say to that.

"A lot of the gods talk about you." She said offhandedly.

"Really?" I asked. "Like who?"

"Aphrodite, she's fallen in love with your love life. Says it is the "best tragic love story in history"." That didn't really fill me with confidence. She continued. "My brother, Apollo, claims that you two are "bros"." She said while doing air quotes. "He won't stop talking about how you saved him from being punished by our father."

"I told him that that wasn't a big deal. He kept trying to pay me back in favors. It wasn't his fault for what happened anyway. Even Zeus had to admit it, it took a while, of course, but he did." I said slowing my speed as I went around a sharp turn to not fall into the creek that was running along the road.

"You understate, Perseus." She replied. "Getting my father to admit wrong is a nearly impossible task. Almost no god can get my father to do that."

"You can," I added. "He seems to listen to you. You got him to not kill me, like, three plus times."

She shrugged. "My father has always had a soft spot for me. Thinking of me as some helpless child in need of his protection."

"And yet he trusts you with hunting down the strongest monsters in the world." I countered.

"True," She admitted. "I am still young, compared to other gods. So maybe he still thinks of me as his _little girl_." From the way she said it she didn't sound too happy to be considered a child.

"How old are you?" I asked, before instantly regretting it. If Annabeth were here she would've smacked me upside the head.

"4,617." She answered quickly. "Nothing compared to Aphrodite, believe me." She smiled. "The old hag still acts like she's a young woman."

"You don't look a day over 3,000 to me." I said with a laugh.

I barely caught her smile. "You flatter me, Perseus. Unnecessary and dangerous, though appreciated."

"Well I-" Suddenly she shifted in her seat and looked out her window.

"Stop the vehicle! I sense monsters nearby." Before I fully came to a stop she jetted out of the car into the almost knee high snow, her bow raised and hid behind the nearest tree.

I turned off the car, grabbed my bag and made my way next to her behind the tree on her left. From my position I couldn't see anything but I could hear what sounded like something eating. I hoped it wasn't one of the residents of the small town we just passed. Artemis' eyes met mine and she seemed to communicate wordlessly to me. She told me to get ready.

I nodded my head slowly as I uncapped Riptide. She held up her hand telling me to wait as she slowly inched her way around the tree, her silver bow drawn. A second later I heard something big, loud, and angry running at me from my left. I pivoted to see a large troll charging at me through the trees, swinging a Stop Sign as a club. I stood, turning my head to my right to see Artemis pointing her bow right at my face.

"Duck, Perseus!" She cried as she let her arrow fly at the monster. I luckily managed to duck just in time to feel the arrow brush past my unkempt hair.

'Flit. Flit. Flit. Flit. Flit.' The goddess of the Hunt unleashed a barrage of arrows into the troll, disintegrating it on the spot. She wasn't given a second to think, however, when the troll that was in front of us ran at her, swinging his massive fists into the tree in front of her.

"Lady Artemis!" I yelled, grabbing her shoulders to throw her out of the path of the troll's fists. We landed on the ground, my hand still on her shoulder. I blinked once before coming to my senses and removing my hand.

"I'm sorry." I apologized as we rolled backwards to avoid the troll's foot that landed where we were not a second before.

Artemis raised her bow once more. "No need, Perseus." She let loose another barrage of arrows, killing the troll instantly. "Now fight!"

"That I can do." I raised my sword just in time for an entire horde of trolls to burst out of the trees. They were dressed more for a frat party instead of killing mortals in my opinion, with beer bottles tied around their necks and their assortment of weapons that resembled pool cues and pool umbrellas instead of actual weapons. But they were still just as deadly regardless.

Lady Artemis let her bow disappear in a silver glow as she unsheathed her twin silver hunting blades, running at the nearest troll and quickly dispatching it with a wild gleam in her eye. I didn't have much time to watch her however, as I had to dodge a small charcoal grill that was thrown at me by a troll wearing the largest hawaiian shirt I've ever seen. Guess these guys _were_ at a party before this.

I spun Riptide in a large arc around my body to deflect and deter the six trolls that ran at me. When they caught sight of the leaf-shaped celestial bronze sword some of them winced and took a few steps back.

"It's Perseus!" One yelled.

"The slayer of Kronos!" A troll with a tiki torch yelled.

"The Demigod of Storms and Earthquakes!" A female troll cried out.

"The guardian of Mount Olympus!" A terrified voice shouted.

"Mortal champion of the gods!"

I couldn't help it, I smirked slightly. Raising my sword quickly, causing them to gasp and step back in fear. "Now come on, don't let that stop you…" I pointed my sword at a very fat troll. "It's either you fight me or Lady Artemis." I said gesturing to the goddess that was currently jumping from the shoulders of several trolls as she used her twin knives to slit their throats.

The trolls didn't really seem very motivated to attack either of us. So I charged them with a yell. "Come on then!" I met the first troll before he could realize that he should've stayed at his party. He turned to dust just as the others got up the courage to attack me.

One troll with a necklace of license plates threw a crude wooden spear at me that I easily deflected with Riptide. He pulled out his club but with a lightning fast motion of my arms he suddenly became left handed, then no handed for the remaining three seconds he was alive before he burst into dust. The third troll was on me in a second, swinging his fists wildly. I managed to block his fist with the flat side of Riptide, before using all of my strength to push the smelly troll back onto his butt. A quick flick of my wrist later and he turned to dust like his brothers.

The remaining three trolls shuffled backwards to get away from me as I slowly walked towards them. "The just don't make monsters like they used to…" I muttered to myself. I was looking towards a good fight but these trolls were no threat to me. Even Lady Artemis was taking her time killing them. I could tell by the wild bursts of laughter and glee that I heard from her as she easily dodged and countered the trolls with ease.

"Why did _we_ have to run into _Perseus_?" One complained to his brothers, saying my name like a slur.

"We left our party for this?" Asked another with a massive beer belly. "I don't want to go back to Tartarus."

"I _knew_ the ogres would get the soft gig." Muttered the shortest one. I could hear the fear in his voice. "They get to have fun and hunt that mortal while we get killed by the Demigod of Storms!"

" _And Earthquakes_." I corrected him, shaking my head in mock disappointment. "Don't forget the _Earthquakes_."

"My bad," The smallest troll corrected himself. "And-"

I interrupted him however, when I used the momentary distraction to swiftly dispatch the two larger trolls with Riptide. I slammed into the smallest troll with my shoulder, sending him flying back a few yards into a large tree, causing snow to fall on his head from the limbs above. I placed Riptide at his throat, wordlessly commanding him to stay down.

"Now," I took a breath. I wasn't tired by any means, but I thought it'd sound cool with a pause. I was right. "Tell me about this "soft gig" the ogres are on. As well as this mortal you say they're hunting."

"I-I can't say!" He cried. "They'll kill me!"

"And what do you think I'll do to you if you don't tell me?" I asked him, pressing Riptide onto his skin a little harder. His eyes widened even more.

"No please, don't!" He begged.

"Then tell me what I want to know." I said calmly. "We can either do this the easy way or the hard way…"

"Don't send me to Tartarus!" He begged. "You have no idea what it's like down there!"

My mood dropped, as did my voice. "Actually I do." I paused, trying my best to _not_ feel sorry for a monster. Too distracted to see the small troll pull a blade from his belt and swing it at my side before it was too late. I wasn't fast enough to block it as I watched the serrated knife in slow motion as it swept closer to my side. I wasn't worried though, because as soon as the blade went through my coat and made contact with my skin it shattered in the troll's hand.

For a good thirty seconds the troll only laid there, his eyes wide, hand trembling and heart rate increasing. His eyes finally moved from where his blade shattered against my skin and up to meet my eyes. His eyes were filled by so much fear that I was worried that he might pee himself.

"...What _are_ you?" His gruff voice was barely a whisper, I only caught it because if my improved demigod senses. His body was shaking like he was about to fall over any second.

"...Just a demigod doing his duty… Sorry-" I then flicked my wrist and Riptide sliced through the troll's throat like butter. His headless body burst into shining dust as his remains scattered in the cool, icy wind.

I stood there looking at the wooden club that lay in the falling snow. A trophy from slaying the monster. Back in the day I would take the trophy but I just left it. I didn't care about the trophies anymore.

"You didn't get any information out of him." Lady Artemis' sudden voice brought me back to reality. I turned around to see her standing calmly behind me, wiping the troll blood off of her daggers in the snow. She looked up to me. "You could have interrogated them for information."

"He wouldn't have talked." I answered shortly.

She raised her brow. "How are you so sure?"

"I could see it in his eyes. He was afraid of me, but more afraid of whatever was ordering him to attack the mortals around here."

The goddess of the Hunt studied me for several seconds, her eyes not leaving my face. It kinda freaked me out, to be honest. Her eyes were a piercing silver that seemed to bore into my soul. Finally, she spoke.

"I trust your words." She stated evenly. "Now, let's get back to your vehicle and on our way. We still have a good distance to travel before we reach the epicenter of the Monster attacks."

"Okay," I said, putting Riptide back in my pocket. I rubbed my hands together to get back some feeling in them. I didn't get wet and cold from the snow thanks to snow being made of water, but my powers did nothing to help protect me from the windchill. "Let's get back to my car and most importantly the heater."

"Agreed." The goddess shivered in her hunting cloak.

oooOooo

We traveled like that for the rest of the day. Slowly driving through the narrow, winding, snow covered forest roads. We patrolled around several of the small towns and dispatched several more small groups of monsters. Nothing to write home about, only more trolls, ogres and hellhounds. None of which offered more information about this mysterious 'mortal' that they were hunting besides that they _really_ didn't like him. We stopped every hour or so to patrol the woods and rivers for monsters, so our progress was slow. The still falling snow didn't help much either. My car wasn't too fond of plowing through it either, Lady Artemis and I had to get out and push my car a few times. If you've ever wondered what one of the strangest things I've ever had to do as a demigod then I'd say having to convince a goddess, Artemis no less, to get out of my warm car and help me push is up there near the top.

We managed to get within three or four hours drive, in these conditions at least, of where the majority of the monster attack were reported, before it started to get dark. Lady Artemis and I had just fought off some monsters and reached my car when she spoke up.

"We should start setting up camp." She said, eyeing the setting sun. "The sun sets quickly in the mountains, especially in the winter." She opened my back door and pulled her travel bag out as well as my sleeping bag. "If we start now we should be able to construct a decent snow shelter that will safeguard us from the elements and cold."

She moved to my trunk where I kept a snow shovel and started to quickly dig a hole in the now knee high snow. I blinked a few times. "Wait, you want us to sleep in the snow?" I asked.

She didn't stop her work. "Normally I would sleep in my enchanted tent, it would keep the elements out. However," She paused to push a big pile of snow out of the way. "Males are not allowed to sleep in my tent." She looked up to me. "Regardless who they are, my apologies."

She paused her work to stare at me as I just stood there watching her work. "Are you just going to stand there and make me do all the work? I thought that you were a gentleman?" She asked. "I could just sleep in my tent and force you to construct your own shelter yourself."

I rubbed my hands together to keep them warm. "Well I was kinda hoping that we could actually go into town and stay in a motel."

She pushed the shovel into the snow, letting it stand there. "A motel?" She asked.

"Yeah," I shivered. "I've been living out of my car for over a week. I'm cold, it's only going to get colder-"

"It will drop thirty seven degrees tonight." She helpfully added.

"See!" I said, waving my hands at the snow shelter she was constructing. "It's going to be unbearable out here tonight. You might be able stand the cold as a goddess but I'm just a mortal. A mortal that will freeze to death out in this snow."

She nodded. "You are correct, your mortal body would be at risk in this cold. I am able to withstand it, even though I still _feel_ the cold." She looked up at the sky, at what, I had no idea. But as a goddess connected to the Wilds I assumed it was important. "It will also snow several more feet tonight. We very well might get snowed in if we camp out here tonight."

"That furthers my point!" I cried. "I may not get cold from the snow itself but I'd freeze to death if I tried to sleep outside while the biggest snowstorm of the century is going on."

She raised her gloved hand to her chin in thought. "If you were one of my hunters than we would just huddle together and use our body heat to keep each other warm in the night. That is what we have to do sometimes." I barely noticed her eyes widen in the blizzard that was slowly building up. She seemed to realize the implications of her statement. "But I would _never_ perform such an act with a _male_." Her voice was a little sharp before her eyes met mine and she realized her tone. "I meant no disrespect, Perseus, but I-"

"I know." I interrupted her. "Don't worry about it."

"Are you sure-" She started to press.

"I'm fine," I waived off. "You're a maiden goddess, you wouldn't sleep next to a male like that. I understand." I rubbed my hands together again to get some feeling back into them. "Besides, I'd never do that to Annabeth. She might understand the situation and cut me some slack because of who you are, but I wouldn't be comfortable doing it."

I turned around and slowly made my way to my door and started hastily throwing everything in my backseat. "Let's just get out of this cold. We can talk about it when we're in a nice _warm_ motel with coffee, food and hot showers."

I finished putting everything away and looked back to find the goddess right behind me, gazing into my eyes. I stumbled back a little into my car door, surprised to see her right behind me. She completely ignored my fright and looked me over like she was trying to figure me out. She wore a very thoughtful expression.

"You are a very strange man, Perseus…" She muttered, almost lost in thought. "I am used to males being very disrespectful and vulgar, though… I sense none of that in you…"

"Uh, thanks…?"

She looked right in my eyes. "Though as a maiden goddess I will require my own room when we reach the inn." She stepped away and made her way to the passenger seat. "That is my only condition."

I stood there stupidly for a few seconds before getting into the car and turning on the heat. "Works for me," I said, blowing warm air into my cupped hands. "I should be able to afford two rooms. Chiron gave me some money for the trip." I explained. I saw her shivering next to me so I reached into the back and brought up a thick blanket and handed it to Artemis. "Here, you can borrow this until we get to the motel."

She gave me a slight shocked look but took the blanket nonetheless. "Thank you, Perseus."

"No problem." I waived off. "You may be a goddess but you don't have to sit there silently while you're freezing. Just ask and I'll turn up the heat even more." I gestured to my backpack behind us. "I might still have some coffee in my thermos, help yourself."

The goddess was silent as she sat there and I guess thought about I was doing to her. I didn't see it as a big deal, she was cold, so I gave her a blanket. It doesn't matter to me if she's a goddess or not, she's still my friend, well… sorta. We might not be as close as I am with Hermes or Apollo but she's stopped threatening to end my life, so I'll take that as progress. Some of the Olympians still did that.

I turned my head to her briefly before returning it to the road. "So, you're the navigator for this trip, where are we heading?"

She picked up the map that we had been using all day. "There should be a small town up ahead, we can stay there for the night. It is a little out of our way but we can easily make up the difference by getting up an hour before dawn-"

"Nuh uh," I said adamantly, shaking my head. "I've been up before dawn all week. You might be the goddess of the dawn but we don't exactly get along. We're going to be sleeping in nice, _warm_ beds. I'm sleeping in."

"I am not the goddess of the dawn," She corrected. "Mortals believed that I was for some time, but I am just affiliated with it. Which caused the confusion in my opinion. The Domain over the Dawn belongs to a more ancient being that I am unaware of."

I shrugged. "I stand corrected, though my point still stands."

She gave me a hard look before sighing. "Fine. We will sleep in."

"Yes!" I gave a small fistpump. "Let's just hope that this place serves breakfast too, I haven't had a decent warm meal since I've been out here."

" _Males_." She muttered under her breath, though loud enough for me to hear. "You would never make it as one of my hunters."

I gave a mock hurt sound. "Hey, _I_ would like to think that I'd make a good hunter."

She laughed, very loudly. She calmed down after a few seconds when she noticed my smile drop. "I meant no disrespect, Perseus." She said, wiping a tear away with a finger. "I believe that you possess all of the necessary qualities that my hunters do besides two."

I raised my brow, careful to keep my eyes on the road in the deep snow. "And what might those be?" I asked.

"You are not female." She said quickly. "That is the biggest reason why you are not one of my hunters."

I blinked. Well, she had me there. "What's the other one?"

"You could not hit an archery target to save your life." She said evenly.

"Hey, I'm not _that_ bad anymore." I argued in a mock hurt tone, but I was really joking. "I've been practicing!"

"Well your practice needs more practice." She said with a chuckle.

"Yeah yeah yeah, make fun of the guy _not_ bestowed with archery talent." I grumbled in jest. "Make him feel bad."

We just made it to the outskirts of the small, snow covered town and were about to head to the nearest motel when the telltale red and blue flashing lights shown behind me. I was getting pulled over by a cop. When I had my backseat full of camping and hunting supplies, including an extra dagger and shield, a sack of gold drachma and a goddess in a twelve year old form dressed in a silver hunting cloak and tunic that had monster blood stained on it.

Yeah, this wasn't going to go well.

I pulled over as soon as I could, best not tick the guy off. Artemis gave me a confused look. "What is going on?" She asked. "What do those lights mean?"

"It means I've been pulled over by a cop." I answered. The police car stopped behind me and the door opened.

"This 'cop' would be the local law enforcement, correct?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "Just follow my lead and stay quiet unless he asks you a direct question. I've dealt with plenty of cops in my life."

The goddess unsheathed her hunting dagger. "Could we not just overpower him?"

"Are you crazy?" I yelled, taking the dagger from her hand and throwing it into the back just as the officer reached my window and knocked. "You'll get us arrested. Just don't kill anyone, okay?"

"Fine." She grumbled a little grumpily as I opened my window.

"Is there a problem, officer?"

* * *

 **(Author's Note)**

 **Thanks so much for reading if you made it this far. This is my first PJ story so I hope I did Percy and Artemis justice. This is a three part story so in the next one we'll see them get pulled over and make it to the motel where they'll get to talk and spend some time together and** _ **slowly**_ **become friends.**

 **This is a friendship story, so neither Percy nor Artemis will develop feelings for the other besides a close friendship, like I said. If you took their interactions as something different than that was not my intention. Sorry. Maybe if I get requests I'll write a true Pertemis romance story. Maybe.**

 **Let me know how you liked this prequel story with a Review. More details about the story this one proceeds will be revealed more in the next chapters.**

 **Also, before I go, I have a question:**

" **Who is your godly parent and what would your special abilities be?"**

 **If you couldn't guess what mine would be then I'd be shocked. He's my username and profile picture for gods sake. I've been a fan of Greek mythology and Hephaestus long before I picked up my first Percy Jackson book. I even bought a scale model replica of the Hephaestus statue from Athens that sits in my room before I ever read the first book. I'm interested what you guys have to say so please tell me in a Review or PM.**

 **Thanks again, Hephaestus**


	2. I Share A Motel Room With A Goddess

Chapter 2: I Share A Motel Room With A Goddess

 **(Author's Note)**

 **Hey everyone! This is part 2/3 of a prequel story for my upcoming "Champion of Olympus" story. This story doesn't have any action in it, that'll be next chapter, but it does provide a lot of Percy and Artemis conversations and is most of the set up to why Artemis respects Percy in such a way in my story. It also has a VERY IMPORTANT, though short moment towards the end. So still please give it a read.**

 **Okay so Artemis is very OOC from her book form in this chapter, but I think that it's an appropriate outcome for how their friendship would build once they just sat down and had a conversation. Percy is known for being able to befriend almost anyone, so I think it's not too far fetched.**

 **In case you didn't see the end of my last AN I asked who your godly parent would be along with your special abilities. So let me know if you haven't yet. Thanks.**

 **Please go vote for my PJ story on my Poll, right now Naruto is winning and I want to do Champion of Olympus next.**

 **I recently updated my Profile so please go over there and check out my future stories!**

 **Follow me on Twitter, I post updates, polls and post nerdy stuff on there. Same name as on here. I've been talking a lot of PJ stuff recently but my Naruto audience has no idea what I'm talking about, so please follow me on there so I can have PJ fans to talk to.**

* * *

Chapter 2: I Share A Motel Room With A Goddess

 _We just made it to the outskirts of the small, snow covered town and were about to head to the nearest motel when the telltale red and blue flashing lights shown behind me. I was getting pulled over by a cop. When I had my backseat full of weapons, camping and hunting supplies, including an extra dagger and shield, a sack of gold drachma and a goddess in a twelve year old form dressed in a silver hunting cloak and tunic that had monster blood stained on it._

 _Yeah, this wasn't going to go well._

 _I pulled over as soon as I could, best not tick the guy off. Artemis gave me a confused look. "What is going on?" She asked. "What do those lights mean?"_

" _It means I've been pulled over by a cop." I answered. The police car stopped behind me and the door opened._

" _This 'cop' would be the local law enforcement, correct?"_

" _Yeah," I nodded. "Just follow my lead and stay quiet unless he asks you a direct question. I've dealt with plenty of cops in my life."_

 _The goddess unsheathed her hunting dagger. "Could we not just overpower him?"_

" _Are you crazy?" I yelled, taking the dagger from her hand and throwing it into the back just as the officer reached my window and knocked. "You'll get us arrested. Just don't kill anyone, okay?"_

" _Fine." She grumbled a little grumpily as I opened my window._

" _Is there a problem, officer?"_

The officer, whose face was hard to determine through his beard and winter mask blinked, once, twice, then chuckled. "Ya know, I've never had anyone say that to me when I've pulled them over." He sounded genuinely amused. He looked friendly enough, also harmless, but I was skeptical that he was an actual person, since I've dealt with monsters posing as cops before. But I also figure that if Lady Artemis couldn't tell this guy was a monster then we were screwed. We were probably fine.

"Really?" I asked. "I figured you'd hear it all the time?"

"Nah," He waived off. "Not around 'ere. Most folks 'round 'ere just say "how're you doin', Bob?" when I pull 'em over."

I blinked. "Ok… Uh, why _did_ you pull me over?" I asked politely in a tone I've mastered after dealing with cops for years. "I couldn't have been going too fast-"

He shook his head, the snow falling from his sheriff hat. "Nah, you were goin' just fine for the conditions." He pointed with his thumb further into town. "I don't recognize ya, you 'ere for the ice sculptin' festival?" He asked.

I shook my head. "No, we're just heading through. Camping, you know?" I tried my best to block his view of Lady Artemis with my larger body. It would've raised some questions that I was out here in the snow with a random twelve year old girl that was _way_ too old to be my kid and looked nothing like me so we couldn't lie and say she was my sister. I hoped Lady Artemis thought of something.

It was now when 'Bob' finally seemed to notice another person in the car with me. I guess the small town sheriffs around here weren't like the New York City cops I'm used to. He shown his flashlight past me and onto Lady Artemis. He smiled.

"Evenin' miss." And he actually tipped his hat. "You two picked the wrong weekend for campin', didn't ya?"

"That we did, but I've always liked the woods in the winter."

From next to me I heard an older sounding voice when I expected to hear a child's. I quickly turned my head to see Lady Artemis in an eighteen or nineteen year old form. She was bundled up in a more usual winter parka and hat, still wrapped up in my blanket. She noticed my sudden movement and gave me the briefest look to act natural.

Bob nodded. "I 'ere you, miss. I love the winter season." He turned back to me. "But unfortunately the road out of town in blocked for the time being."

"Why?" I asked. "Because of the snow?"

"Sorta," He started. "There was a landslide that was caused by wha' we _assume_ was ice in the dam outside of town. From what we can tell was that the expandin' ice broke through the dam and the water caused a landslide."

"Well isn't that a dam problem?" I muttered softly, I think Lady Artemis understood me but Bob didn't.

"What?" He asked.

"Nothing, just said that's a big problem." I tried my best to hide my smirk.

"It is," He nodded. "The town is full for the ice sculptin' festival and a lot of the cars are stranded because of the snow, so the motels in town are fillin' up fast." He pointed to a large brick building down the road. "Ol' Mark should still have some rooms left. But make sure to hurry before we run out of rooms. Tell him Bob sent ya and he should give ya two lovebirds a discount."

I _really_ hoped Lady Artemis didn't fillet this guy for the comment. I tried my best to hide the blush running up my face. I couldn't say that I actually had a girlfriend, that would've raised even more questions. Better to just run with it. Hope Lady Artemis understands I had no choice.

"Thanks, we'll make sure to."

"No problem, lad." He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a card and handed it to me. I read it over as he spoke. It was a business card for a towing company. "Take this. Many folks have already gotten stuck in the snow. Give Larry a ring if ya two get stuck while you're in town."

"Uh, thanks." I said, shivering as a cold gust blew into the car.

"Well I'll take my leave now, let ya two get inside." Bob nodded to me and tipped his hat to Lady Artemis again. "Ya two take care now."

"You too." I replied as he walked off. I quickly closed the window to stop the heat from escaping anymore. I turned to Lady Artemis. "You surprised me." I said referring to her older form.

She gave me a look like I was an idiot. "Well it would have raised suspicions for you to be traveling with a young child, would it not?" She asked eloquently.

I nodded, pulling back on the road and heading to the motel. "Yeah."

"Well then I do not see the issue." She wore a confused look on her face. She gave her older form a look over like she wasn't sure what she looked like. "Is this form not adequate?"

I shook my head a few times. Trying my best to phrase this correctly, I didn't want her to think I was… uh, meaning something else... _That_ might get me turned into a Jackalope. "No no, your fo- uh, looks are just fine." I gave a cautious look over to her. "I'm just not used to seeing you as… however old you are right now."

"I am eighteen." She replied "I figured that it would be best to be the same age as you."

We pulled into the the motel parking lot and drove around a few times looking for a place to park. "I didn't know that you ever made yourself look eighteen." I said, looking desperately for a spot. "I didn't think you'd make yourself look like an adult."

She uncrossed her legs on the seat and stretched lazily like a large cat. "It is not very often but I have done it before. I have never taken a form over twenty, however. I tend to take on a younger form to fit in with my hunters. But with you I guess that this eighteen year old form would be best. You would prefer it most."

I wisely chose to not make a joke. "Well it'll definitely not make anyone ask questions." I said. "Ha! Finally found a spot."

We parked the car and grabbed our bags from my back seats and headed into the motel. Lady Artemis gave me a strange look when I opened the door for her. Guess she didn't expect it. "My mom raised me to hold open doors for women." I explained. "I'm used to doing it for Annabeth."

The goddess replied with smile and a nod as we reached the front desk. An old man in a flannel shirt, whom I assumed was "ol' Mark", stood behind the front desk. He certainly _was_ old. He looked like he'd die of old age at any second. He gave us a warm smile when we reached the desk.

"Good evenin', kids." He greeted. "You two here for the festival? You missed the first day, but it'll keep going all weekend!" He said it like we should be excited about frozen water statues.

I shook my head and took the lead in the conversation. I figured Lady Artemis wouldn't know what to do. Had she ever even _stayed_ in a motel before? "No, we were just out camping but decided we didn't want to freeze to death in the snow so we came into town."

"That's always a good motivation for me." He nodded with a chuckle. "I'd rather sleep in a warm bed than freeze my bits off."

"Uh… We agree." I said gesturing to Lady Artemis and myself. "Can we please have two rooms? And we might be staying for a few days or at least until the road out of town is cleared." I started to pull out the wallet full of mortal money Chiron gave me for the trip but when I caught Mark's frown I stopped.

"Are you out of rooms?" I asked. "Bob, the sheriff, told us you should have some rooms left."

The wrinkly old man shook his head. "Oh no, We still have rooms but because of the festival and the blizzard almost every room in town is taken." He explained. "Because of that I'm only giving one room per group." He gestured to a man down the hall who was carrying a big suitcase. "I had to ask the last three gentlemen who came in as a group to share a room."

Well dam, I mean damn.

This wasn't going to work at all. I gave a look to Lady Artemis but her face was unreadable to me, figures. She probably wasn't too thrilled. She _definitely_ wouldn't be fine with sharing a room with me, it was her only condition that she'd get her own room. "You can take the room," I told her. Careful to not call her 'Lady Artemis' in front of this random old man. "I can sleep in the Toyota-."

"Nonsense," She waived off, stepping up next to me at the desk. She gave Mark a warm smile. "He has lost his senses from the cold. Is this room furnished with two beds?" She asked.

Old Mark nodded his head. "Yup, each room has two double beds." He answered before handing her a blue slip of paper. "We also serve breakfast out of the lobby from six 'till ten. So make sure you two come down. My Susan's cheddar scrambled eggs are to die for."

"Lovely, we will take one room, please." She looked to me, as I stared back with a blank look on my face. She gestured to ol' Mark with her head, giving me a look. "Pay the man, Perseus, I wish to take a warm shower and change. You can stare blankly in our room."

I blinked a few times before paying for the room, making sure to get a discount, and taking the key from Mark. When we were far enough from anyone I spoke up. "Are you _sure_ about this, Lady Artemis?" I asked in a hushed voice. "You are a goddess, a _maiden_ goddess no less. You shouldn't be sharing a room with me."

"The mortal said that the room contains two beds. We will each take one. I assure you," She stressed. "That even if the room only had a single bed that we would have still taken the room. You would have just slept on the floor." She said in a voice that meant there was no argument on the matter.

We made it to the room in no time and laid our individual bags on our beds. I instantly went to the heater and turned it on to 'max'. Lady Artemis excused herself to take a shower in our adjoining bathroom, she didn't even make a threat on my life if I peeked on her, which surprised me. I _wouldn't_ have anyway, of course, but it was surprising. Once she was out I was about to hop in the shower when my stomach demanded a sacrifice.

'Bllllrrrgggg!'

Silence filled our tiny room for several seconds until Lady Artemis gave me an astonished look as she dried her long auburn hair with a towel. "By the gods… Was that your stomach?"

"...Yeah," I mumbled, a little embarrassed. "I'm hungry. We should get something to eat."

The goddess nodded, removing the fluffy towel from her hair and placing it on her bed. She was wearing some baggy sweatpants and a large, long sleeve sweatshirt hoodie that read 'Train Like A Goddess' and shown a woman wearing a tiara holding a large barbell over her head on the front, but they were noticeably fluffier than normal, like they recently went through a dryer. I guess that if you're a goddess that you could just make your clothes warm. I wish I had that power this whole trip. I've nearly frozen my keister off each night sleeping in my car out in the snow.

I paused and just stared at the goddess in front of me-, _wait_ , let me rephrase that, I was _just_ stunned at her casual outfit, nothing else. And because the gods hate me she had to notice.

"Is there a problem, Perseus?" She asked, putting on a pair of bright pink fluffy socks that she just 'poofed' into existence. _Yeah, this has been a weird day._ I mentally shook my head and went to my bed to where I left my shoes and started putting them on.

"No no, nothing's wrong," I said. "I'm just not used to seeing you…" I gestured to her with both hands in an 'I got nothing' motion. "Like… this."

She looked caught off guard and gave her clothes a once over before realizing what I meant. "Oh, yes. My attire." She sat on her bed, her legs crossed under her. "You would not be used to me in 'mortal' clothing. My hunters make a point to comment on it whenever I don this type of clothing. Aphrodite sure are _Hades_ does." She mumbled the last part.

I finished tying one shoe and started on the other. "How do you like it? The mortal clothing, I mean."

Lady Artemis swept her hand over the soft fabric on her legs, she smiled approvingly. "I must say that they are rather comfortable, not suitable for combat, but very comfortable indeed."

I smiled. "They're _not_ _for_ combat, Lady Artemis." I stood up and she seemed to notice that I was dressed to go out, she stood up as well. "They're sweatpants. They're just for laying around the house and being lazy. And yoga." I added as an afterthought. I gestured to the door. "Do you want to get some food?"

She nodded and her bow appeared in her hand with a silver glow. "It may be difficult to travel in this weather but we will be easily be able to find tracks in the snow." She grabbed her silver parka and put it on. "Come, Perseus. If we hurry we might be able to track something down before it gets too cold-"

I reached over and took the hunting bow from her hands and tossed it on her bed. She wore an astonished face, her mouth agape and eyes wide open. "Nuh uh, we're _not_ hunting our dinner out in the snow. I've been eating out of my backpack all week. I want some real food." I said adamantly.

She just stared from her open hand to her bow that now lay on her bed. She looked up to me like I was a ghost, she stumbled back in shock. "H-how in _Hades_ did you disarm me?" Her voice turned to a shriek towards the last words.

"What?" I asked, giving her a confused look as I headed to the door. "I just grabbed it?" My answer turned into more of a question towards the end.

"You took my bow from my hands." She explained. "You disarmed me… that should be _impossible_ for a mortal to do…" Her eyes focused on me even more. "Besides that… my godly weapon should have disintegrated you on the spot… Astonishing, you are even more powerful than I perceived."

"Uh, thanks?"

She took a step closer to me and gazed deep into my eyes, thank the gods I had a good control over myself, because she was really beautiful. She'd kill me if I said that, and Annabeth wouldn't be happy either, but it's true. I don't have any feelings for her, but when you have a literal goddess standing right in front of you it's hard not to notice. Every goddess is perfection and beauty personified, everytime I ran into Lady Aphrodite I had to watch myself, she had that effect on mortals. Lady Artemis didn't have the same… _effect_ on me, thank gods, but she was still slightly distracting.

Her voice was so soft I could barely hear it. "...No wonder my father fears you so." She seemed to be speaking to herself more than me. She then gave me one more look over before heading to the door. "You would be a very formidable adversary, Perseus. One's blade I would not wish to cross."

My eyes widened slightly, my voice careful. "...How do you mean?" I asked as I headed to the door and held it open for her.

"..." She didn't answer, however. "Let us eat. We will need to keep up our strength up for the upcoming battle."

oooOooo

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oooOooo

We braved the frozen tundra and headed to the nearest diner. Hallelujah, _real_ food. Greasy burgers, fries, _coffee_ , Coke, oh the joys of the American culinary arts! How I missed you!

We entered the diner and sat at the booth closest to the wall and furthest from everyone else. It was as you'd expect if you've ever seen a 50's retro American diner, I'm talking black and white checkered tile floors, white and red striped bar counter with red stools. Bright red and white booths, Coca-cola logos everywhere, fresh pies in a glass display near the cash register, milkshake and malt posters on the walls. On the far brick wall was a large painting of an old gas pump and some classic cars. A real jukebox stood against the rear wall. All in all I thought it was amazing. I gave a quick glimpse to Lady Artemis, she looked a little overwhelmed.

"I was not aware that you mortals still had establishments like this." She said as we sat across from each other at the booth. "I do not remember the last time I saw something this… colorful."

"Probably in the 50's." I joked. "Most restaurants don't look like this anymore."

"Ah." She simply replied as she took in her surroundings. An older waitress in a 50's style dress and _big_ hairdo came over to us, offering us menus, smiling.

"Evenin', kids. Name's Nancy," She drawled. "Wha' can I get started for you two t'day?"

"I'll take some coffee please." I looked to Lady Artemis. "Artemis?"

She gave me a quick glance before smiling up to the older woman. "Same, please."

"Got it." She wrote on a little pad and paper that she pulled from her apron. "Will'ya be needin' a second to figure out what y'want?"

I looked to Lady Artemis and nodded. "Yeah, we might need some time to decide."

"Of course, hun," She nodded with a knowing smile. "I'll give y'two some privacy." She winked to me and walked off, her heels loudly clicking on the tile floor.

Why does everyone assume that we're together? ' _Because it looks like you're on a date.'_ I answered myself. I need to stop that, it's probably not good for my mental health.

Shaking those thoughts away I picked up my menu and was about to start looking through it when Lady Artemis spoke. "So now you're calling me 'Artemis' instead of 'Lady Artemis' now?" She asked. "You do understand that I have killed men for that exact thing?"

My heart rate quickened slightly but I kept my reaction under control. I _really_ doubted that I was in any danger, she _did_ tell me to act normal around her. But I do know that the gods always demand respect. I shot my eyes to her briefly as I looked over the menu. "My apologies, My Lady,... But I figured it best that I didn't call you 'Lady' in front of the waitress. Lady Artemis." I added quickly.

She eyed me with her calculating eyes before nodding to with a slight smile visible at the corner of her lips. "I will allow it, Perseus. You may call me Artemis, your voice saying my name does not fill me with the same disgust as other men. Besides, I do believe that you have earned it." She picked up to the menu like it might bite her, holding it out with two fingers. "You choose our meal, I do not know anything about mortal food, as I have no need for it."

' _My voice saying her name doesn't fill her with disgust?'_ I thought. ' _Well that's good, I think.'_

"Then call me Percy," I said nonchalantly. "I don't like being called 'Perseus', makes me feel old."

She burst into a sudden laugh, it was so melodious and beautiful that it caught my breath. "Makes _you_ feel old?" She managed to stop laughing, asking with a smile on her face. " _I am_ the oldest being in this establishment, as well as the town." She put down the menu and smiled. "Hearing _you_ say you feel old makes _me_ feel old."

I couldn't help but smile. "Then it's good that you can make yourself look as young as you want." I joked. "I ran into a goddess in Tartarus that _looked_ her age. Trust me, you _don't_ want to look a few millennia old. You don't look that bad for being over 4000 years old."

Her thin brow raised dangerously, her tone also turned more serious. She leaned into the table slightly. "Are you attempting to _flirt_ with me, Percy?" Her eyes were a dark silver and the air around me turned cold.

Oh gods, I've finally done it… This is how I die.

I flailed in the booth, my hands flying wildly. "Wait! No no no no no! I didn't- I mean, I wasn't trying to- I'd never flirt with another-"

Her melodious laughter broke me off. It started off quite but it quickly turned almost hysterical. The goddess in front of me was trying her best to calm her laughing but to no avail. She finally managed to cover her mouth with her hand and quell her laughter. Thanks to the sudden outburst, the three old ladies at the other end of the diner looked over in our direction but quickly went back to their conversation. I just stared blankly at the goddess in front of me.

"Your face!" She cried. "Oh your face was priceless!"

The realization dawned on me slowly… she- Artemis, goddess of Olympus, known throughout the world as a hater of men… just messed with me to make me freak out so she could laugh at me. My eyes widened and she seemed to realize that I finally figured out what was going on. "You-you're messing with me, aren't you?" I asked.

She chuckled again, sighing with a smile on her face. "What gave it away, Percy?" She asked innocently.

"...Well I'm neither a charred husk on the floor or a jackalope so there's that." I said hesitantly before thinking of something that made me smile. "And you called me 'Percy'. I knew you'd warm up to me eventually!"

"Curses." She chastised herself. She shrugged once then smiled as I let out a huge sigh of relief. "I do have to admit that that was rather fun, I see why my brother and Hermes pull pranks so."

"That was less a prank and more attempting to give me a heart attack." I deadpanned.

"Oh shush, Percy," She waived off. "I am reveling in the humor of scaring your."

I grabbed the bridge of my nose and let out a long sigh. "Gods… you're as hopeless at jokes as Jason…" I let out another sigh before picking up the menu again. I gave La-Artemis a look. "So, what do you want to eat?" I asked.

The goddess shrugged and leaned back in the booth, trying to find a comfortable spot. She didn't even glance at the menu. "I have no preferences, I do not eat mortal food. Only the meat that I hunt from animals." She waved at the menu in my hands. "You pick something for me, I assume that you have a great deal of knowledge when it comes to mortal food."

I raised a brow. "Are you calling me fat?" I asked jokingly, looking down at my stomach in mock hurt.

The moon goddess rolled her eyes. "I am not approaching the topic if it pertains to your body." She mumbled, resting her chin on her knuckles that stood up from the table. "I _am_ a maiden goddess after all. We are above such things."

This time I rolled my eyes. "And Athena's still popped several hundred kids out her head." I shot back.

Artemis rolled her eyes even more. "Be that as it may, how my sister in law determines maidenhood and how I determine it are two entirely different things." She leaned back in the booth. "She has sworn off natural born children while I have sworn off love entirely. Now are you going to decide on what to eat or not? I thought that you were starving based off the sound of your stomach in our room."

"Yeah yeah yeah," I mumbled, looking over the menu. "I take it you're not vegetarian?" She only glared at me like I insulted her. I swear a tick mark appeared over her eye. "Guess not. Okay, well I think I'll be getting the 'Sunrise Bacon and Egg Burger'. That sound good to you?" I asked looking up from the menu.

"I guess so." She shrugged. "I have never eaten a _burger_ or _bacon_ before. But as they are both meat products I assume that I-"

"Wait what?" I interrupted her, a shocked look on my face. "You've never had a burger before? Or bacon?!"

"No," She simply replied, not understanding my sudden outburst. "I told you Percy that I don't eat mortal food. I only ever eat what I hunt myself-"

"But bacon!" I cried. "What about eggs? You've had eggs before, right?"

She raised one finger to her chin in thought. "My hunters once helped me cook a peacock egg once to spite Hera, but that was back in Greece."

I wore an astonished face, and it only grew more as our conversation continued. "You've never had bacon and eggs for breakfast? How do you function?" I asked confusedly. I pointed to the fires next to the burger on the menu. "You've at least eaten french fries before, right?"

The auburn haired goddess shook her head slightly.

"Oh my gods…" I breathed, my voice turning sorrowful. "You poor, poor girl-" Her brow raised slightly at my words but she let me rant. "-How do you live through life like that? Depriving yourself from such things?!"

"...Wow…" Artemis just stared at me in awe after my rant about fries and bacon. She blinked a few times. "I was unaware that I was missing out on so much."

"Oh don't you mock me." I pointed a finger at her accusingly. "You have no idea what you've been missing all these years."

She just held up her hands in mock surrender. "Okay okay, jeez," She shook her head. "You're worse than my brother. Why don't you just order me one of these _burgers_ and _fries_ and I'll decide their value myself? If I find them to be acceptable I will thank you for the revelation."

"You've got yourself a deal!" I said quickly before putting the menu down. "Guess we'll both be ordering the 'Sunrise Bacon and Egg Burger'." I looked around and didn't see our waitress anywhere, only three old ladies at the far end of the restaurant. I shrugged and looked back to La-I mean, Artemis. "Once what's her face-"

"Nancy." The goddess helpfully added.

"-Yeah, her, comes back we'll order." I said. We sat for about a minute, just talking about the monster we were hunting when I caught Artemis not so subtly sniffing. I stopped talking and she just kept doing it, oblivious that I had stopped talking.

"Artemis?" I asked. "Are you okay?" When I didn't get a reply I waved my hand in her face. That seemed to do the trick. So much so that she pulled her head back in surprise and hit it on the booth behind her. She let out a low growl and I subconsciously leaned back in my seat.

"What?" She demanded as she rubbed the back of her head.

"I uh, you were sniffing." I said not at all helpfully. I raised my arm and smelled my armpit. Frowning I gave her a look. "I know I didn't take a shower before we left, but I can't smell that-"

"Don't perform such an act in my presence, Percy." The moon goddess averted her eyes from my 'indecent' act. She shook her head and I caught her slightly roll her eyes, again. "I was _not_ smelling you. Believe me, I have many better things to do than to smell a sweaty man."

"Sweaty?" I asked indignantly. "At least my feet don't smell!" I shot back.

" _What?_ " She cried out, her eyes widening.

' _Oh I shouldn't've said that…'_ I tried my best to rectify the situation before I suddenly grew antlers. "W-wait, let me explain-."

"Yes, _please_ do explain your insulting words to me." Her eyes were narrowed and her jaw set but I was able to tell that she wasn't too upset, like turning me into an animal upset, but she still wasn't too happy.

"I uh…" I tried my best to come up with a clever response. One foolproof enough to get me out of this situation. I've used my cleverness to get out of situations hundreds of times… I'd just have to do it again. Yeah, I got nothing, so I went with the truth. How _stupid_ of me!

"Back at the motel," I started. Her brow raised, waiting to decide my fate. "When you were putting on your socks…"

"Yes?" Her voice dared me to continue.

"...your feet.." I mumbled too low to hear.

"My feet what?" Her tone rose in question.

"They… smelled…" I closed my eyes and braced for whatever she was going to do but after a good fifteen seconds when nothing noticeable happened I dared to open one eye just as she snorted.

"Zoë had been telling me that for years. No other Hunter ever dared to say it to my face." She mused with a smile on her face remembering her fallen friend. She smiled to me as I resumed a normal position in my seat. "I am rather impressed that you told me that. Even Ares dared not to say it to my face."

"Uh… so does this mean you _aren't_ gonna turn me into an animal?" I asked hesitantly. She gave me a familiar look, like I was an idiot as she rolled her eyes.

"If I were to turn you into an animal everytime you insulted me I would have run out of animals already." She deadpanned before turning her tone more amused. "You need not fear me, Percy. You have earned my respect and I gave my word that I would not harm you. I do not go back on my word."

"Uh… ok." Was my brilliant response. I blinked a few times and tried to steer this conversation around. "So what were you smelling then?" The moon goddess seemed to notice my change of topic but said nothing about it. She sniffed again, smiling after she found whatever smell it was again. Her smile was rather goofy, if you asked me. I decided to not press my luck further and kept my mouth shut.

"Oh, I was merely trying to locate a certain smell, one… very sweet and delicious." She frantically looked around the restaurant in search for her mystery smell but seemed to not be able to locate it, she then 'humphed' and crossed her arms, leaning far back in the booth. I couldn't believe it, _Artemis_ was pouting. I had to keep myself from laughing.

I looked around the place as well, eyeing the kitchen as best I could from our spot. "Well we _are_ in a diner," I helpfully added. "You could be smelling a dozen things."

"No," She shook her head adamantly. "I have never in all of my years smelled something so delicious." Movement from the far end of the diner caught my eye. It was the three old ladies, they got up all at once and started for the door. Walking passed a glass display case that I _swear_ they lingered by for an extra second. It hit me as they left the diner silently.

"It's the pie!" I cried, a smile on my face. Oblivious to everything else. "You're smelling the pie display case by the cash register." I explained.

"What?" She asked quickly, following my eyes to the the display case. "Pies?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "You must be smelling one of the fruit pies." I sniffed once and caught the faint whiff of apple thanks to my improved demigod senses. "Smells like apple pie to me."

The goddess in front of me wore a confused look, like she didn't understand what I was talking about. "You know, apple pie." I supplied. She shook her head once. "It's a kind of dessert."

She only blinked. "You know, a bowl shaped crust with apple filling in the inside?"

I only received a blank stare. "It has cinnamon and nutmeg in it?" The blank stare continued. "Lemon juice? Brown sugar?" I was getting a little desperate now.

"It's about this big?" I made a medium sized circle with my hands. She looked even more confused now, looking at me like I suddenly grew a second head. "Uh… it has apples in it?"

"I figured as much." She helpfully stated, still wearing a confused face.

"Arrrg! You're not helping." I said, she rolled her eyes at me. "It sometimes has vanilla ice cream or whipped cream on the top?"

She made another confused face. "Whipped cream?"

"Oh my gods!" I cried, putting my head in my hands, resting my elbows on the table. "I'm so glad I didn't accept immortality, you gods are hopeless!" I muttered through my hands.

I could literally _hear_ her roll her eyes at me. "You are being unreasonable, Percy." She started. "I assume that the other gods like Apollo or Dionysus know of the food you speak of."

"Yeah but _you_ don't." I cried, dropping my hands to the table. "Out of all of the gods I'd expect _you_ to know what apple pie is!"

"Why is that?" She asked in a confused manner. "You know that I do not eat mortal food."

"Because you've spent the most time with mortals!" I said. "I would've figured that after being in American for what, several centuries at least that you'd know what apple pie is. None of your Hunters ever said anything about mortal food?"

The goddess shrugged. "I do not know. Most likely. But I do not remember every conversation I have ever had with them. You should not expect me, goddess of the Hunt to know of such things."

"Well we're righting this wrong right now." I said adamantly, seeing our waitress finally come back.

She gave me a questioning look. "How so?"

"I'm getting you some apple pie." I answered quickly.

She shook her head, her long auburn hair swaying from the movement. "That is really not necessary-."

"Nuh uh," I shook my head as Nancy made it to us. "As your friend it is my duty to right this wrong at all costs. I don't care if I have to shove it down your… throat-" I finally noticed Nancy standing next to us. She gave me a confused and slightly cautious look before giving Artemis a look that asked 'are you okay?'. When Artemis waved her off, Nancy held up her little notepad. _Oh great_ , now not only did Nancy think I meant something else, Artemis did too. Why do the Fates hate me so?

Nancy cleared her throat. "Ya two decide wha' ya wanna get?" She asked, deciding that whatever she walked into wasn't her problem.

I nodded. "We'll both be getting your 'Sunrise Bacon and Egg Burgers'. Can you believe that she's never had a burger before?" I asked Nancy out of the blue. She gave me a confused face than an astonished one to Artemis.

"Tha' true, hun?" She asked Artemis, when she nodded Nancy wore an incredulous look. "Really?"

"Yeah," I answered in a 'can you believe it' tone. "She's also never had fries either. Or apple pie!"

"Never had apple pie?!" The older women cried, looking to Artemis like she was in need of help. "Are ya serious?"

"She had never even heard of it until today," I told her. "She could smell it but didn't know what it was!"

"My word." Nancy was holding her hand at her heart like it would go out at any second. "Are ya foreign, hun?" She asked out of the blue.

Artemis blinked once. "Well, I _am_ technically from the Island of Delos in the Aegean Sea-"

"That explains it!" Nancy snapped her fingers before putting her hand on Artemis' shoulder, something even _I'd_ be scared to do, and gave her a reassuring look. "Don't worry, hun, we'll fix ya up the best darn apple pie west of the Mississippi." She turned back to face me. "Do ya want single pieces or one large one?"

"Could we actually take a whole pie?" I asked with my best 'like a baby seal eyes' that Annabeth can't refuse.

"O' course, hun. But it'll cost ya extra." She held up her notepad, ready to write on it.

"Doesn't matter," I said. "I just need to get Artemis here some apple pie." I gave a quick glimpse and she wore an expression that read 'why me?' and stared at the ceiling as if asking the Fates why she had to be here with me."

"Oooh that's sweet!" The older woman squealed. She gave Artemis a wink before writing down on her notepad. "Oh make sure to keep this one, hun. He's a keeper!" With that she made to turn around but I stopped her.

"Wait." I called out. She turned around quickly before taking the two steps back to us. "I want to add two more things." I gestured for her to lean down so I could whisper something in her ear. I could see Artemis raise her brow, wondering what I was doing. She looked suspicious but the soft smile at the corners of her lips let me know she was more amused than anything.

Once I finished giving my order to Nancy she gave Artemis a not so subtle look and mouthed 'He's a keeper' as she walked off. "By the gods…" Artemis grumbled out, rubbing her temple. "That woman was as bad as Aphrodite."

I chose not to make a comment. Instead we talked about the trip so far and how strange it was for us to run into each other like we did.

oooOooo

Outside the diner, three women as old as time stood still in the falling snow, undeterred about the temperature and conditions. One of the women looked to the others. "The foundation has been set, sisters."

"Yes, Clotho." Started the woman to her right. "But is it enough? Is this interference enough to sew the bonds of friendship needed to protect Olympus in it's darkest hour?"

"We can only hope, Lachesis " Stated the third sister. "Even _we_ don't see all of the thread to be sure."

The first sister spoke again. "For the sake of mortals and gods alike I do hope so, Atropos." The three sisters looked through the window in unison to see the goddess Artemis cover her barely contained laughter, supposedly from one of Percy's bad jokes. They watched in silence as she playfully punched him in the shoulder.

"I think they will be fine." The three sisters said in a single voice, though none of their mouths moved. The wind began to howl and snow started to swirl around the three sisters like a cyclone, completely covering them up. In a second the flying snow dispersed and the three sisters were gone.

oooOooo

 **(Back to Percy and Artemis)**

Within a little time Nancy came back with two burgers the size of Artemis' head, two separate baskets of fries, an entire apple pie that smelled _heavenly_ and two tall, thin glasses filled with a pink substance on the inside. The rim of each glass sported a single strawberry and a long red straw sprouted from each glass. Artemis gave it an examining look as it was placed in front of her.

"What is this?" Her voice wasn't rude or anything, but genuinely curious. She nudged it with her spoon, examining it.

"Why it's a strawberry milkshake, hun." Nancy smiled. "You can't come to a diner like this and _not_ get a milkshake or malt."

"Exactly what I was thinking," I told her. "You can't truly experience American food without having a milkshake with your apple pie and burger."

"Oh I like this one!" Nancy said again before winking to Artemis again. "I'll leave ya two alone, have a goodnight, y'hear?" At those words she headed back to the kitchen and left Artemis and I as the only ones in the diner at this late hour.

I tried my best to ignore Nancy's words and made short work of starting on my burger. Artemis gave the burger in front of her a quick glance before sniffing once and reaching for a slice of pie. I watched in trepidation as she brought the fork to her lips. But no one was holding their breath like Artemis was, as she was _literally_ holding her breath.

She consumed the bite of apple pie and froze for a second, her eyes wide and a huge smile forming on her face around the fork that still stuck out of her mouth. Before I could say anything she quickly began to devour the slice of pie faster than Grover with his enchiladas. She dropped the plate as a look of realization spread across her smiling face. Her eyes turned the size of dinner plates and thrust her fork into the sky.

"Apple pie is wonderful!" She declared aloud for all the gods to hear. Before I could blink she reached for the pie and shoved another _three_ slices onto her plate. Needless to say I only got to have a single slice of the apple pie and half of my strawberry milkshake since Artemis stole most of mine. She apologized in between shoving her face full of fries and burger, of course, but it was an apology nonetheless. I just waved it off and bought her another _entire_ apple pie. "For the road." She said. We both left considerably more stuffed than my wallet after coming into the diner but it was worth it to just hang out with a friend and buy her some food she's never had. She made me promise that the next time we met that we'd come back for more pie and milkshakes. I quickly agreed.

We trudged through the hostile winter landscape and made to back to our room just as the food seemed to settle. As soon as I opened the door Artemis raced past me and flopped down on her bed, holding her stomach and rumbling like a kid that ate too many sweets. Which, I guess is exactly what happened.

I chuckled at her antics as I closed the door. She called out to me. "Do not laugh at me, Percy. I am a goddess!" She halfheartedly threatened me. But from her prone position on her bed as she buried her face in her pillow and clutched her stomach and mumbled to herself about "accursed pie" I didn't exactly fill with fear. I tried my best to quell my laughter though.

"Okay okay, I'll stop." I held up my hands up in mock surrender. I gestured to the bathroom. "I'm gonna take a shower before bed, do you need to use the restroom?"

Her face appeared from a jungle of auburn hair. "I am a goddess," She mumbled. "We do not defecate like you mortals."

My brow raised. "Then where does all your food go-"

"Best to not ask such questions, Percy." She muttered before returning her face back into her pillow.

"...Okay…" I deadpanned. I took her warning and just shook my head at the goddess and smiled to myself as I grabbed a change of clothes and headed to take my shower.

I walked back out of the bathroom in a pair of shorts and a fresh t-shirt to find a silver tent on top of Artemis' bed, with thin ropes tying the sides to a different foot of the bed. I just stopped and stood in our small room, staring at the tent on top of the bed. Figures the goddess of the Hunt would be the only person on earth to sleep in a tent _inside_ of a motel room.

I slowly approached the tent and realized that I didn't know what to do. Do I knock? If so, on what? The fabric? Do I call out to her? But aren't her tents sealed from temperature and noise? Would she be able to hear me? I can't just open the flap, right? She could be changing or something like that. I prefer my insides where they are, thank you very much.

I stuck my head next to the tent and called out. "Uh, Artemis? You in there?"

"No." Came the soft voice of my unexpected roommate before a barely stifled laughter caught my ear. I blinked as I realized what was going on. She was laughing at herself. She was thinking she was being clever!

I turned around and gave an overdramatized 'what can you do?' gesture and sighing. "Oh well, guess she left somewhere." I said a little louder than normal. "Guess I'll have to return her extra pie to the diner-"

No later than did the word 'pie' escape my lips, Artemis burst out of her tent with her hunting dagger drawn. "You would dare take my pie away from me?!" She cried as she stood in a fighting position, dressed in an old fashioned silver robe, her silver dagger glowing slightly. I just stood there like a deer caught in headlights as her eyes darted around the room, finding her pie still on the small table. I tried my best to keep my eyes from dropping below her face. Her robe was rather loose. Not indecently so, I doubt she'd ever wear something like that, but it was slightly distracting to say the least. She dropped her hand and the dagger vanished in a low glow, her eyes narrowed at me.

"You were joking, weren't you?" Her voice was so serious that I couldn't tell if she was joking or not. Did she really think that I was being serious? She couldn't be that gullible, could she?

"Uh… yeah." I finally breathed out. I gestured to her tent. "I wasn't going to take your pie. I don't have a deathwish."

"Ah." She nodded like all of this made sense. Her features returned to normal and she gave my appearance a once over before nodding in approval. "Good, you are fully dressed."

I looked down to myself in confusion. "Why wouldn't I be?" I asked.

The goddess shrugged. "I merely figured that you would be the type of man who sleeps without appropriate clothing on."

Oh.

"No no no." I shook my head. "Nothing like that. But _I do_ sleep without a shirt with Annabeth in our apartment-"

Artemis covered her ears. "I do not wish to hear what you two do in bed." She interrupted me. "I am a maiden goddess. I do not wish to hear of such things!"

"That's not what I- oh never mind. I'd never walk around without a shirt in front of you anyway." I muttered as I tried my best to stop the coloring in my cheeks. Annabeth and I were already pushing the limits of the god's wishes by living with each other and sleeping in the same bed. While the gods never seemed to follow their own rules on the subject, they were very strict when it came to conduct outside of marriage, at least for us mortals. Annabeth and I wanted to do more, of course, I mean we are young adults in love after all, but we've decided to follow the ancient laws and not anger Hera or any of the gods further.

I plopped down my bed and gave Artemis a glance as she stood there. "You know, the whole point of staying in the motel was to _stay in the motel_." I said. "What's the point in staying in a room with such a nice bed if you don't _sleep_ on it?

"I always sleep in my tent." She answered strictly.

"And you _always_ only eat the food you hunt." I shot back. "Come on, just sleep on the bed."

The moon goddess raised her finger to her chin in thought. A very human-like action that I've noticed her use quite often. "I don't remember the last time I slept on a bed outside of my tent." She mused. "The only other time I sleep outside of it is when the weather is nice and my Hunters and I sleep under the stars."

"Then that settles it," I said. "You're gonna sleep on the bed. There's always a first time for everything."

"Fine." She let out a breath and turned to her tent. Within a second it collapsed into a square the size of a postage stamp and she slid it into her travel bag on the table next to her bed. She gave the large double bed a once over before lying down on it and wrapping herself in her covers like a burrito. I personally found it hilarious. She looked to me and I could barely make out her facial features from behind a wall of auburn hair.

"Normally this would be when I gave you a warning saying that if you even thought about trying anything or leaving your bed before I rise that I would turn you into a female… the _hard_ way." Her voice turned dark suddenly. "I am very handy with a knife and my accuracy infallible, I assure you that I would not miss."

"I uh-" I started but she interrupted.

"But I won't make threat because I trust you, Percy. You are by far the most honorable man I have ever met…" Her voice trailed off into nothing. I sat on my bed waiting for her to continue but she never did. So I just shrugged to myself and turned off the bedside light next to me and pulled my own cover over myself. After several minutes of silence her soft voice spoke up again.

"Percy?"

"Yeah?" I asked, not opening my eyes or moving in any way.

"...I just wanted to give you my thanks for the wonderful day…" Her voice was so soft that I could barely hear it even in the silence in our room. "This has truly been one of the best days of my long life."

I turned my head to face her. "It's no problem-"

"No," She cut me off again. "You spent so much time and energy to make this day memorable. From your gods awful singing in the car to the apple pie…" She said apple pie like I say Annabeth. I think I found the Moon goddess' true love. "Thank you for treating me like a normal 'person'. It has been many millennia since I've had such a genuinely happy day with anyone, mortal or not."

I rolled back over and smiled into my pillow. Not giving her a reply. But little did I know how important those words were going to be until much later, when not only the mortal worlds, but Olympus' fate as well depended on our ability to work together.

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 **(Author's Note)**

 **Dun dun duuuunnn! Was that a little Fates foreshadowing mixed in with the seemingly normal conversation? I will neither confirm nor deny it. And you thought nothing important would happen this chapter. Tsk tsk tsk, lol. Also how about that scene at the end? Man it was** _ **so**_ **hard to keep it from getting romantic. I gotta do a true Romantic Pertemis story after this.**

 **But I do hope that you guys liked this less actiony chapter. Not every chapter can have monsters, sorry. But I do hope that you liked it anyway. This one was harder to write than the first, hopefully the third will be easier to write.**

 **If I can get TEN reviews on this chapter I'll release the Prophecy for 'Champion of Olympus' during the sneak peek after ch3 comes out.**

 **Hope you guys liked it! Leave a Review and be sure to Follow me and this story so you'll be notified when 'Champion of Olympus' comes out, along with the next prequel stories.**

 **The question for this chapter is who's your favorite character out of the entire PJ series?**

 **Have a great day, Hephaestus**


	3. A Goddess Cries For Me

Chapter 3: A Goddess Cries For Me

 **(Author's Note)**

 **Hey everyone! This is part 3/3 of a prequel story for my upcoming "Champion of Olympus" story.**

 **Okay so big announcement for this chapter, it is very different than the previous two. Percy and Artemis go from forming a friendship in ch1, to becoming really good friends hanging out in ch2, to being willing to sacrifice themselves for the other in ch3. I won't give out any spoilers but their friendship has evolved so much in a short time and I just want to make sure everyone is aware of it. It** _ **is**_ **the entire reason why this Prequel exists. Also thanks to everyone for their kinds words about their friendship so far!**

 **So I know I said last time that Artemis was OOC but she'll be even more OOC in this chapter. At least, for her canon character, for my story it's a natural progression. Stuff happens this chapter and makes her act in a way that she never lets herself act, so prepare for some tense moments and maybe some tears… Yeah, I can't help myself sometimes. Mwahahahaha! We get to see her POV this chapter, hope you guys like it!**

 **Please follow and favorite both me and this story so that you'll be notified when the Full Story and other Prequel Stories come out. Please also follow me on Twitter and vote for "Champion of Olympus" on my FF profile(desktop only, no phones, sorry, FF needs to change it).**

 **Please read the AN at the end as well. It's a long one but important.**

 **Hephaestus.**

* * *

Chapter 3: A Goddess Cries For Me

It was about eleven in the morning when Artemis and I made it to the frozen dam outside of town and began to investigate. It was a pain, but we managed to get my car through the trees and waist high snow and down to the dam. We got out of it and walked around. According to Artemis she sensed a very old and _very_ powerful being among the hills around the dam. The several feet of fresh snow that had fallen overnight had actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise, it prevented any mortals, _or sane people_ , from getting anywhere near the dam. So Artemis and I had the entire area to ourselves to search for our mystery monster. We decided to investigate the water in the dam, meaning _I_ had to jump into the freezing water and see if I could find anything in the water.

It was cold.

As you would expect. Water tends to be cold under a foot of ice and three feet of snow. While I was under the water I saw something that caught my eye, several sharp pillars of rock jutting out of the bottom of the lake and into the dam wall. As I swam up to the rock pillars I could feel a growing presence, it felt like when I was in Tartarus. Like I was _inside_ of something. I hesitantly put my hand on the rock and pulled it back suddenly as if it had bite me. Summoning a thypooh of water around me, I used my water powers to get me to the surface as fast as possible. The hard way. I burst through the ice and several stories into the air with a deafening cracking sound as my abrupt departure sent cracks spider webbing out across most of the ice in the large lake.

I dropped to the ice like a rock, all of my senses muddled and every bone in my body shaking. I tried to stand but I fell to my hands and knees in the waist high snow, thankful that my powers kept my skin and clothes dry. My breathing was rushed and I felt like I was about to pass out. Artemis was at my side in a second.

"Percy!" She dropped to her knees as well and lifted me from the snow. "What's wrong? Are you okay?" When I didn't respond a wave a fear went across her face. She hefted my arm over her shoulder and half carried half dragged me to a fire she had set up on some exposed rocks near the base of the lake. I don't remember reaching the fire, however, as I passed out before we could reach it.

 **(Artemis POV)**

I felt Percy go limp in my arms as I carried him to our temporary camp next to the lake. Using my godly strength, I hoisted his unconscious body on my shoulder and hurried him to my tent.

"Percy!" I cried when I received no response after lifting him on my shoulder. "Stay with me! Stay with me!" My voice turned more desperate with each cry. "That's an order! _Percy!_ " Tears threatened to form at the corners of my eyes but I fought them back. I was halfway to my silver tent when I raised my eyes to the sky and screamed with all of my being.

"Apollo! I need you! _Apollo!_ " I cried to the heavens. I could sense the remaining animals around me flee from my voice. No mortals were around for miles, my Hunters were away in another state and my brother was not coming. For the first time in my long immortal life I was alone.

Helpless.

"Apollo! Apollo I need you! Brother! _Please!_ " Percy threatened to fall from my shoulder, I used my arm to keep him in place. "Apollo! Father! Father please! I need you! Hermes! Hera! _Anyone!_ _**Please!**_ " I begged the skies as I threw aside the door to my tent and laid Percy down on my bed. He was still not responding. I checked his breathing and heart rate, they were shallow and slow, but still there. Thank gods.

I put my hand to his forehead and I grew more fearful. He was burning up. His skin was like the surface of the sun. I summoned my travel pack and unceremoniously dumped its contents on the floor next to me. I tried to sift through the items to find the Ambrosia and Nectar but my hands were shaking so much that it felt as if I were losing control of them.

"Curse you hands, work!" I yelled at my inability to control my own body. I had no idea why I was acting so, my mind was elsewhere and my body shaking. I couldn't focus my powers enough to use my limited healing abilities on him. I needed Apollo.

"But Apollo isn't coming." I reminded myself bitterly. Whatever beast had hurt Percy must be interfering with my abilities to call on my brother. Just like with my Golden Reindeer. "I must heal Percy myself."

I steeled my nerves the best I could and quickly went to work to bring his temperature down with a cool cloth on his forehead. I tried to pour some Nectar down his throat but the godly liquid would only flow back out of his mouth, like his body was rejecting the foreign liquid.

"Damn you Fates! No!" I cried as I threw down the Nectar in anger. "No, Artemis," I scolded myself. "You _must_ control your rage. _You_ are the only one who can save Percy. _You_ must do it!" I took in a deep breath to calm my nerves.

"For Percy." My voice was soft even I could barely hear it escape my lips.

I nodded to myself as I went back to work to bring his fever down. It was useless to check his body for the usual breaks and injuries, with his Curse of Achilles he was invulnerable to all harm, excluding his weak spot, or _supposed_ to be, in any case. I did not understand how he had been hurt so, a being of _enormous_ strength must have attacked him. I needed to keep his fever down, I had a wet cloth on his forehead but it wasn't enough. I needed to do _something_. _Anything!_ An idea suddenly struck me, one that I would never consider for any other man... But for Percy I did not even hesitate.

I made short work of cutting his clothes from his body, leaving him only in his undergarments. I did not waste time blushing nor chiding myself for looking at the skin of a man as a maiden goddess. Instead, I brought in snow from outside of the tent and covered his body in it to keep his temperature down. Hopefully, gods willing, his godly heritage will protect his body's higher functions from the frozen water while helping keep his internal temperature down at the same time. With his temperature finally leveling I put my hands on him and used all of my being to send what little healing energy I had into his body. If only Apollo were here.

It was up to the Fates now. I could only pray that they were on my side.

I lifted my eyes to the heavens, closed them, as well as clasped my hands in prayer. "Please, honorable Fate Sisters, hear my desperate plea." I whispered. "I have never before asked anything of you, so _please_ grant my one time selfish request; heal Percy." I dropped my hands and looked down to the unconscious mortal before me. He seemed to be stabilizing. Thank the Fates.

Everything was going fine... for about fifteen seconds until his body broke out into wild convulsions. His body shaking rapidly without control. I recognized what was happening, he was having a seizure.

"No no no!" I cried as I tried my best to keep his body still without harming him. His body thrashed without end. I managed to pin his arms to his sides. "Percy! Percy please, you must wake! _You must wake!_ _**Please!**_ " My body was shaking almost as much as his, my heart raced faster than my chariot across the morning sky. Percy was dying, and there was nothing I could do to help him.

Without warning his body stilled, eerily so. I ruched to check his pulse with two fingers on his neck. My breath hitched and my heart stopped. He was gone…

"Gods no…"

And my unshed tears finally fell from my eyes as I held his still body against my heart.

Percy was dead...

...And it was my fault.

oooOooo

 **(AN: That was** _ **way**_ **heavier than I meant it to be,**

 **Sorry, but don't worry, Percy's okay)**

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 **(Percy POV)**

I assume I was dreaming, since I don't normally wake up floating in the clouds. As a son of Poseidon I tend to avoid the sky as much as possible. My head was fuzzy and my entire body ached, but I managed to control my eyes enough to look around me.

I _was_ in the clouds. Was this the afterlife? Was I in Elysium? I didn't think I'd get in… The sky and clouds around me turned a soft reddish hue, like the morning sun and I felt a presence behind me. I turned to see a silhouette of a woman made of light with large angel wings floating above the clouds. Her face wasn't visible due to the warm light she emitted from her skin, but I could feel her eyes on me. A soft, halo-like glow shown around her body, making her appear angelic.

"You are not deceased, young hero." Her voice was so soft and melodious that it nearly lulled me to sleep. A soft red, almost golden red hued aura spread from her body and washed over me. I was filled with peace, serenity and a calmness I have never felt since I was a child."I have brought you here to offer you a warning."

"W- wh-" I tried to speak but my lips acted as if they had never been used before. My tongue was so heavy that I could not use it. The angel-like woman flew closer to me, her wide wings a reddish hue with gold at the tips of her feathers. She reached out and gently held my face as the light around her became dim enough for me to see her. I felt the breath escape my lungs. _She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen_ , _more beautiful than Aphrodite herself_. She smiled to me as her ever changing colored eyes roamed my body all over. Her rosy cheeks smiled even wider when her eyes caught mine.

"You are a very fine mortal, Perseus Jackson." Her voice was like a lullaby, so soft and warm and inviting that I wanted nothing more than to listen to it forever. "But I have already named my champion. I beg you to heed my warning to avoid him. I wish not for such a man to be ruined." She purred, her voice the only thing my mind wanted to focus on. The only thing that mattered.

Her eyes, which were once so warm and caring, turned lustful and needy, though in my state I did not care. Her jaw tightened and her hand let go of my face, I could still feel the warm of her on my skin, and my wanted her hand to return. She looked like she was having a hard time controlling herself in front of me. She shook her head and seemed to regain control again. "No, I spared you because of your beauty and honorable nature, nothing else. I have already named my champion..." She seem to be talking to herself more than me, like she had to remind herself why I was here. Though I did not care, I only wished to listen to her voice forever. The reddish glow around her turned darker as she spoke and the wind started to howl around her. "Do not make me regret my decision this day, Perseus Jackson. I will not save you a second time."

She pulled back from me with a beat of her glowing angelic wings. I couldn't stop my arm from reaching for her as she faded into the clouds. It was as if something in me _needed_ to be with her to the point of pain. The feeling left however, when I awoke with no memory of my interaction except a vague memory of an angel.

oooOooo

 **(Percy POV)**

The first thing I felt when I came to was pain. Go figure. My entire body was numb, my bones ached and I was freezing. The second thing I felt when I came to was another body next to mine. I blinked my eyes a few times to get them used to the light again and saw a mess of auburn hair next to me. It was Artemis.

I tried my best to turn to her but all I could do was manage to turn my head a few degrees. "Ar-Artemis-" My throat was so dry it hurt to speak. Her reaction was instantaneous.

"Percy!" She cried as her face appeared above mine. Her silver eyes were so wide I could see red around the corners of her eyes and lines down her face. _She had been crying_. My heart sunk.

I tried to cover my ears to protect them from her sudden cry but I only managed to hurt myself even more. "Owwww!" I said through gritted teeth. I noticed her face turn even more worried.

"Do not move, Percy!" She said quickly, putting her hand to my forehead. "Your temperature has finally gone down but you are still in serious pain."

"I hadn't noticed." I joked, laying back into the pillow, giving up on trying to move.

"Now is _not_ the time for jokes, Perseus. You scared me to death." Oh she's upset, _great_. Her voice was serious now. "You nearly _died_. I- I believed that you… _did_ , for a time." Her voice turned softer towards the end.

"Believed what?" I asked, my mind still fuzzy. I was having a hard time concentrating.

"That you had _died_." She pulled her head back from hovering over me, but her hand remained on my forehead, as if needing proof that I was still there. "I- I even tried to contact Hades to assure your passage to Elysium but- but I was unable to call upon anyone. I tried to summon my brother, father, Aphrodite, _anyone_ who might be able to help you… but no one came."

"Why not?" I asked weakly.

"You _must_ rest, Percy." She handed me an Ambrosia square. She gave me a hesitant look. "Do you know why you… came back? Did Thanatos or my uncle send you back?"

I tried my best to think back, my mind was so fuzzy. It was if I could remember that _something_ happened, but I couldn't remember _what_ it was. All I could remember was an angel. "I saw an angel." I mumbled out.

"An angel?" She asked, confused. "Do you mean Thanatos? He has wings and collects the souls of the dead."

I shook my head weakly. "No," I held my head trying to remember. "I'm pretty sure it was a woman."

The auburn haired goddess gave me an odd look. She held up one finger to her chin in thought. "I do not know of such a god. At least not one who would be able to intervene in such a manner that also fits your description. Are you sure that you did not imagine it?"

I thought for a few seconds but nothing came to me. "Maybe." I tried to move but my body protested the movement with pain. I cursed under my breath.

The goddess paused to grab a flask of liquid and held it to my lips. "You must drink the Nectar, Percy. You are still very weak. You have been asleep for an entire day." _Well that would explain why my entire body was sore._ I drank some of the godly liquid and she pulled it away. She looked at me and the worry on her face lessened a little. "Your color is returning. But you _must rest_. I am unable to move you in this condition. We will return to Olympus to see Apollo when you recover enough."

"No." I said adamantly through gritted teeth. I used all of my strength to force myself into a sitting up position. Artemis' eyes widened at my actions.

"What in _Hades_ do you think you're doing?" She demanded as I groaned in pain, trying my best to stand.

"I'm going out there to stop that monster." I forced out, managing to get one foot under me but the other one was stubborn and refused. "I saw it in the lake, it's going to attack the town-"

"No, you must rest!" She pulled on my arm to stay down but I pulled it from her grasp. I finally managed to get my other leg to cooperate and I shuffled my way to the exit of the tent.

"If I don't stop this thing it'll kill everyone in the town!" I shot back, my voice harsher than I meant it to be. I noticed Artemis' face drop at my tone. I instantly regretted it. "I'm sorry." I mumbled in pain, grabbing my side. "But I saw into it's mind down in the lake, it plans on taking out the entire mine and then the entire town. If I don't stop it now, then everyone will die."

"But you will die as well!" Her voice was loud and harsh. "Why must you be so idiotic?!" She stepped towards me and grabbed my shoulder tightly. "If you go out there now you will be killed!"

"Better me than the town." I said softly. Her eyes widened and her face dropped. I quickly spoke up again to make her feel better. "But it _won't_ come to that, okay? With us working together this monster won't stand a chance."

Her face dropped and her hand gripped my shoulder tighter. "I- I will not be able to fight this monster, Percy."

I blinked. "Why not?" I asked hesitantly. :You- you aren't _scared_ of it, are you?"

Her eyes turned fierce with anger for a brief second before returning to normal. "Yes! Yes I am!" She cried. "You have no idea what this creature is! If Olympus knew what it was they would have sent some other gods with me! Half of the council at least!"

"What is it?" I asked.

"What did you see?" She asked instead of answering.

I thought for a few seconds, trying to piece together what I saw under the water when I touched the rock. "It was… like a large multi-legged animal made out of dirt and stone and wood? With grass, moss and a small tree growing out of it's back?"

She nodded. "Yes. What else?"

"It… felt _very_ old." I remembered. "Like older than this country old."

"Yes," She nodded her head again, letting out a breath. "It is _far_ older than that, Percy. It is older than civilization itself."

"What?" I stepped back slightly. "What is this thing? Some kind of primordial god?"

"No no," She shook her head. "It is an ancient nature deity. A being older and above the gods, only second to Gaia herself."

I clenched my fists. "She's back?!" I cried. "We need to warn-"

Artemis held up her hand to stop me. "No, the earth goddess sleeps and will never rise again. These beings are ancient and enormously powerful, but normally passive and peaceful. They normally just protect the earth." She explained. "Each realm, meaning the heavens, earth, oceans, underworld, all have protectors. Guardians per say, they are said to be the embodiments of their realm. This being is the protector of the earth. The protector of nature."

"Like the Leviathan. It was the protector of the oceans." I added, remembering the giant sea monster I helped the gods chase to the bottom of the ocean awhile back. **(AN: This will be explained in another Prequel Story. Don't worry)**

The goddess' eyes turn hard, as did her voice. "Yes, _that_." Her tone was filled with venom and fury, but not at me, it felt like she was mad at someone else. "The ocean beast that my father sent you to fight. The one that nearly _killed_ you." Wait, was she mad at her father?

I shrugged. "I made it out okay." She apparently didn't like me saying that, her eyes sharpened. I continued before she could say anything. "So you won't be able to help me fight it? Like how my dad wasn't able to help me with the Leviathan?" I asked.

She nodded curtly. " _Yes_. So you see why you cannot go up against this beast alone. It will _kill_ you." She put both her hands on my bare shoulders and looked into my eyes. "Percy, you will _die_ fighting this deity. It is above the gods. No being alive can kill it. As a mortal you could _possibly_ fight it but you can't _kill_ it."

I lightly pulled her hands off of my shoulders, letting them fall to her sides. I let out a deep breath to calm my nerves. "But I _have to_ , Artemis." I said, my voice low and calm. "If I don't do something than everyone else will die… I- I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I let other people die that I could have protected."

The goddess gave me a hard stare, unblinking. She finally let out a breath and turned her eyes from me, looking away for a quick second, I heard her mumble a curse in ancient Greek. "Why must you be such a male?!" She demanded with a yell, looking back up at me.

I blinked. "What?"

"Why must you be such a male?" She repeated herself. Her voice rising. "Why must you be so adamant and valorous and chivalrous and kind-hearted and respectful and- and noble!" Her eyes had tears forming around them. "Why must you be so _damned_ heroic?!" She cried loudly before dropping her head and laying it on my chest.

We stood in silence for several seconds before she spoke up again, her voice barely above a whisper. "Why must you be such a great man?" She asked softly. "Your heart will get you killed if you keep going on like this…"

I gently lifted her head to look up at mine. "Annabeth tells me the same thing." I mumbled. Her eyes looked to my own. "Did you know she wants out of all-" I gestured around us vaguely. "-This…?"

The goddess listened in silence as I continued. "She wants to leave the Greek world behind. She- she's tired of all of the fighting and wars and death… We actually had a fight about it before I left." I thought back to that morning, it made my heart hurt. "I was going to ask her if she ever wanted to get married and live with me forever. Not actually propose, but ask if she would want me to… But- a messenger came with a request from Chiron and before I knew it I was going on another mission for the gods."

"She wasn't happy that I accepted." I said softly. "She yelled at me for breaking my promise I made to her to leave this all behind after the last mission I did for the gods nearly killed me… She wants to move to New Rome for college and then move out into the real world and leave this all behind… And I agree, I'm sick of all of the Prophecies and killing and funerals I've had to attend for my friends…" I drew my mouth in a tight line, trying to keep my tears from flowing. "But when Chiron told me that people were dying, _I couldn't say yes fast enough_. I have a responsibility, it's my job to protect the Greek and mortal world. I- I have the power to save people… I can't just throw it away and let people die. I can't help my Fate." I wanted so much to be able to say this to Annabeth… I'll have to tell her and I apologize when I see her after this mission. I hope she'll understand.

I let out a long breath and looked to Artemis, she looked like she wanted to cry some more. "...I understand that, Percy." She whispered before nodding a few times to herself. "And I respect your resolve, as well as your heart. I may not like it, _not even a little_ , but I respect it." Her silver eyes looked to mine. "If you wish to protect these people at the risk of your own life than I will help you."

My eyes widened. "What?" I asked. "I thought that the gods weren't able to attack these things because of the ancient laws?"

The goddess shook her head. "No, we are not allowed nor able to _kill_ these beings. If we were _even able to_ , that is." She added as an afterthought. "I am the goddess of the Hunt and Wilds, every beast on the earth is under my domain. Be it mortal or immortal. The Fates should allow me to assist you in not dying, but that may be all I am able to do."

I nodded, smiling. "I'll take all the help I can get. Thank you, Artemis." I said, and before I could think twice I reached out and pulled her into a hug. I expected to be thrown back and yelled at but she only returned the hug after a brief second of hesitation.

"You are very welcome, Percy." I could hear the smile on her face. After a few seconds we pulled away from each other and I finally realized why I was so cold.

I looked down to myself. "Uh, Artemis?"

"Yes?" She asked, walking back to her bed and putting her items back in her travel bag.

"Why am I naked?" I asked, still looking down at my body that was wearing nothing but my underwear.

Her cheeks turned a bright crimson and her eyes widened. "Do not dare suggest such a thing of a maiden goddess!" She cried through her hands that covered her blushing face. Her voice turned frantic. "We are barred from looking upon the naked bodies of men! You- you are merely in a state of undress!"

My eyebrow rose. "Oookaaay…" I stretched out the word. "Let me rephrase, why am I in a state of undress?"

The goddess kept her back turned to me as she threw a larger version of the winter hunting cloak she wore at me. "Dress first! It is unacceptable to be in such a state before a maiden goddess." I made quick work of putting on the white camo pants, shirt and cloak. I turned back to face her. Thankful to be out of that awkward situation.

"I'm dressed now."

"Finally." I heard her mumble. I don't think I was supposed to hear it.

"Now can you tell me why I wasn't wearing any clothes?" I asked. I completely doubted it was for any immoral reasons, this _was_ _Artemis_ we were talking about, the most ' _maiden'_ maiden goddess around. But I was curious.

"You had a terrible fever for several hours." She explained. "I had to cut your clothes away to place snow on you to keep your temperature down."

I shrugged. It made sense I guess. Thank gods I was dealing with Artemis and not Aphrodite, Artemis was _way_ more professional. "Uh, okay." I said, clearing my head. "Want to go after that nature deity now?"

I could see her subconsciously thank me for changing the topic. She held up another Ambrosia square to me. "Eat this." She commanded. "I will not have you falling over from pain before we even reach the beast."

I silently took the square and ate it quickly. It tasted like Annabeth's grilled cheese sandwiches, they are the only thing she knows how to not burn and turn into an unrecognizable inedible abomination. She may be brilliant, but a cook she is not. _Please_ don't tell her I said that.

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It wasn't too hard to find the nature deity, all I had to do was walk to the nearest exposed rock and put my hand on it. I was no son of Hades or Hephaestus, but as a son of the Earthshaker and demigod of Earthquakes I had enough domain over the earth to locate the abnormality under the earth. So we took down our temporary camp and set off deeper into the woods to where the mine was at the center of a large valley lined with steep cliffs. Once there I focused my powers and sent a wave of energy into the earth.

The effect was instantaneous and the earth exploded beneath us. The nature deity forming out of the exposed earth, wood and grass. It let out a bellow that shook my very bones. Accepting it's challenge I raced towards it sword drawn.

It was painfully obvious after about only fifteen seconds that I stood no chance against this beast. No wonder why my father had me chase the Leviathan into the void at the bottom of the sea instead of attacking it. This was a literal force of nature. Not even I, the most powerful demigod in history could compete against it.

"Owwww!" I let out a yell as I was thrown through the trunk of a large pine tree. Thank the gods for my Curse of Achilles, without it I would've been dead.

"Are you alright, Percy?" Artemis' voice called out from a few trees next to me as she let loose a barrage of silver arrows at the deity. It did no effect but distract it from me and chase after her.

"I'll live!" I yelled back, focusing my powers to harness the large quantities of snow around me and send it flying at the beast. "But can't you, I don't know, _talk_ to it or something as the goddess of the wilds?" I asked, using my powers to move atop the snow as if I were skiing. I turned up the speed and zoomed through the trees like a blur, all the while sending wave after wave of snow at the deity.

"If I could don't you think that I would have already?!" She asked as she dodged a spire of earth jut out of the snow beneath her feet. She was able to dodge all of it's attacks thanks to her godly speed but she was unable to even harm the thing. "It is out of my domain! I do not have control over the earth itself! Maybe if Pan were still-" The earth below her exploded and sent her flying into a nearby tree.

"Aaahhhh!"

"Artemis!" I screamed, watching the deity send another wave of earth at her, knocking her several stories into the sky.

I felt a pull in my gut as I harnessed all of the snow around me and launched myself into the sky like a bullet from a swirling vortex of snow. I caught up to the auburn haired goddess in no time and caught her as she started to fall back to the earth. "Got you!" I yelled. I looked below us to see the snow covered earth racing towards us at a rapid pace.

"Snow is just frozen water. Snow is just frozen water." I muttered frantically like a mantra. I held Artemis with one arm as I sent the other towards the ground, spread my finger wide, imagined the snow in my hands and threw my hand up at lightning speed. Several tons of snow flew up to meet us, forming a massive pillar and slowing our fall enough to avoid major injuries. The snow started to fall back down after a few seconds and before we could even register what happened we found ourselves on the ground again, with the beast racing towards us.

"Excuse my hands!" I yelled as I grabbed Artemis around the waist with one hand, lifted her and swung her to my side and held her there like a log. Swinging my other arm, I caused a massive swirl of snow around us to knock the deity back a few feet and send us flying atop the snow as well.

We flew over the top of the snow at an insane speed, the deity close on our tales. I was carrying Artemis like a sack of potatoes with one arm as she dangled from my side and was about to put her down she gripped my arm tightly to get my attention over the deafening howl of the literal tons of snow flying around our ears. I dared a quick glance at her and instantly understood her. She didn't want me to drop her, she had an idea.

I swerved direction so that we were coming back around to face the beast. Artemis, from her carried position, raised her bow at the deity and let loose another barrage of arrows, getting one silver arrows to lodge itself in the thing's rocky eye.

That only seemed to piss it of more, however, since the entire valley shook and the earth several dozen feet in front of us shot up forming a wall. I didn't have any time to react at the speed we were going, we crashed into the earth wall and crumbled like a paper airplane.

"That's going to hurt in the morning." I mumbled, raising my head from the pile of snow. I heard Artemis curse under her breath besides me and let out a sigh of relief. She was still conscious, good. Her head popped out of the snow as well, albeit slower. She rose to her feet weakly, stumbling a little bit. When she lost her balance I reached an arm out and held her steady.

"I got you." I said again. She nodded in thanks. "Sorry about grabbing you earlier-"

"No need to apologize." She cut me off, raising her bow at the rapidly approaching deity and letting more arrows fly at it, though the arrows made no effect except momentarily slow it down. "You had no unhonorable intentions. Now, let us find a way to stop this beast before it gets out of this valley."

I nodded. "If only this thing were like the Leviathan," I muttered. "Than I could communicate to it-" My eyes shot wide open, realization hitting me as hard as the wall behind us. "I'm such an idiot!" I cried.

"What?" Artemis asked as we raced as fast as we could into the trees through the waist high snow.

'I have an idea," I yelled over as we jumped behind separate trees to avoid a fist made out of earth. "Can you distract it long enough to let me gather a lot of power?"

Her brow raised in question but she remained focused. "How much time do you need?"

"Only a minuet."

She nodded. "Consider it done." She jumped to the side to avoid a wave of earth. "Though I will not be able to travel fast enough on the ground to avoid it's attacks as well as fire my bow. If only I had my flying chariot-"

"What about the trees?" I yelled over the beast's' roar. "Could you keep away from it in the trees?"

"Yes," She nodded. "But I would be unable to have enough time to climb-"

"Don't worry about climbing," I interrupted her again. I stopped running and braced myself, putting my hands together in front of me like a platform. "I'll get you into the trees."

 **(Artemis POV)**

"Don't worry about climbing," I heard Percy call. I shot a look to him, he stopped running and held his hands out before him. I instantly understood his idea. And raced towards him before he could finish. "I'll get you into the trees."

I reached Percy within a second, placing my right foot firmly onto his hands and jumped up with all of my might as he launched me high into the air. Too high, as I overshot the branch I was aiming for by a whole story, but I managed to grab onto another one and used my momentum to jump to another branch.

' _Thank the Fates I am the most acrobatic and nimble god on Olympus.'_ I thought to myself as I jumped from branch to branch, firing my silver arrows at the beast.

"Look my way when you see the signal!" I heard his voice fade as I raced away. I nodded to myself.

"Come at thee, beast!" I yelled to it. It gave a roar of challenge, and raced towards me. Completely forgetting about Percy. ' _Good,'_ I thought. ' _I need to buy him as much time as possible.'_ I had no idea what plan Percy had, but I had no doubt that he had one. If any demigod could figure out a way to stop this beast it was him. I continued to race through the branches and fire my arrows, making the beast chase me to the other end of the valley.

I spared a glance to Percy at the other end of the valley. He was stood atop an enormous pillar of snow and swirling his arms around in an elaborate fashion. Whatever he was doing I hoped he would be done soon.

The beast punished me for my momentary lapse in attention, sending a shockwave into the earth, causing the tree I was in to topple to the ground. I let out a curse in ancient Greek as I rose to my feet, my bow drawn at the beast. "Great deity," I yelled. "Hear my plea, we wish not to fight you! I am Artemis, goddess of the wilds-"

"Ahhhh!" I screamed in pain, the beast ignored my words and sent a wave of earth at me, knocking me back to my feet. I rose, albeit slower than before. I was getting tired and my godly durability was weakening thanks to the powerful attacks. I was not at risk of dying, but I could be gravely injured and knocked unconscious. I did not have time for either, however, so I forced myself to stand upright and spread my arms wide.

"Please, great deity," I tried talking to it again, though I did not believe it would work. "I can sense your anger. I am the goddess of the Wilds. I can help you!" It sent another barrage of rock spires at me. "Please! Great deity! I am a protector of the earth as well, let me help you."

I crossed my arms in front of me to block a large boulder sent flying at me. The blow knocked me to my feet, my arms numb from the pain. I would not last much longer. I need to- Suddenly I saw a thin column of snow shoot into the sky up to the height of the Empire State Building itself and explode in all directions. If that wasn't a signal than I did not know what it was.

Ignoring the beast, I raced towards the nearest newly formed rock formations, ran up it and launched myself into the air, looking in Percy's direction. At the far end of the valley I saw large trenches made deep into the snow. They were large, long words drawn into the snow, forming a short but important message:

' **RUN AND HIDE'**

I nodded in his direction on the off chance that he could see me and performed a tumble-roll before I splattered against the next rock face. Using what remained of my godly strength I let my bow and arrows fade in a silver glow and sprinted at my top speed towards the cliff wall at speeds that would make Hermes jealous and up the side of the cliff and into the deep brush at the top.

The beast looked around in a confused manner, it's eyes had been unable to track my movement and it now had no idea where I was. Hiding behind a snow covered bush I summoned some Nectar and drank it to restore my godly energy. If Percy was unable to face the beast alone than I would need to be ready to assist him. No matter the cost.

"It's up to you now, Percy." I whispered to myself.

I watched as the ancient earth deity looked around for the two people that it had been fighting. FInding no one, the earth ceased shaking and the new rock outcroppings that had formed after its attack settled back into the earth. My godly vision picked up on movement a could hundred yards to the right of the deity. Focusing my vision, I was able to make out Percy slowly walking up to the creature, his sword high above his head. It was now when the deity noticed him as well. The mass of earth, wood and grass turned to face him, but did not attack, only watched Percy as he approached.

Percy stopped when he was a dozen feet in front of it, and in a large gesture, threw his sword to the ground. The beast's 'head' turned slightly, as if it were confused by his actions. I couldn't hear what Percy was saying, but I knew that he was talking to the ancient beast with his head bowed low. I do not know what he was saying to be able to calm the beast so, but I summoned my bow and arrows in preparation to assist him if his plan failed.

I felt myself gripping my bow with enough strength to snap it if it were not a godly weapon. I prayed to the Fates that this would work.

Percy, using the sort of slow action one would use against an angry beast, slowly bent down and laid his hand on some exposed rock that jutted out from the snow. His body shook in pain, as did the beast's, but neither made a move to attack the other. After a few seconds Percy and the beast snapped out of it and looked to each other. Percy bowed his head low to the deity and walked towards the cliffside of the valley where I was hiding a hundred feet to his left. I do not know if he knew I was here though, as he made no attempt to signal to or look for me. He just simply continued to walk to the edge of the cliff and placed his hands on the exposed rock.

The earth trembled for a second before the ground beneath his feet started to slowly rise and carry him to the top of the high cliff. Once at the top he stepped off of the earth platform and onto the edge of the cliff, turning to face the valley. We both watched in awe as the colossal earth deity melded back into the ground, all exposed rock and overthrown trees correcting themselves as if it were never there. Percy put out his hands in front of him and held them like that for a solid minute.

It was slight at first, but within a few more seconds I could feel the energy grow around Percy. The snow began to swirl around his feet like a typhoon of frozen water, the earth began to shake and I could feel power, _enough power to dwarf the deities'_ , form under the earth. The air around me became cold and dense, swirling like a monsoon around Percy. Without warning Percy slammed his hands to the earth before throwing them back up again, as if lifting something.

The result would have scared the gods themselves. For the earth shook like Atlas had dropped the sky. Water burst from the dam as well as spew from the earth like a geyser. I watched in awe as a literal mountain of earth and a sea of water rose into the sky and swirled like a typhoon with Percy at the center. I fell to my knees as an aura of power, enough to impress a Primordial, washed over the entire valley and the surrounding cliffs. The sky turned dark and for the briefest of moments, I felt as if I were in the presence of _Chaos_ himself. The creator of the entire universe. It was as _Chaos_ himself was shaping the earth again in front of my eyes.

To this day I would not be able to properly explain what I saw that day, I would not be able to give it justice. All I remember was that for the briefest of moments, as a mountain of rock and sea of water swirled over his head, I felt scared of Percy for the first time. The power this demigod possessed could have destroyed Olympus... I was frozen in fear and all breath had left my lungs as did all of the air in the valley as it swirled with the water and earth.

Percy, whose body was shaking so much I feared he would collapse, struggled to keep his feet under him as he took a single step to the edge of the cliff and released the elements with a deafening 'boom' that must have shook the entire country. My lungs burned and I felt myself going dizzy, I was suffocating in the vacuum of air. I blacked out before the rock and water even hit the earth.

oooOooo

 **(AN: Was Percy too OP? Let me know. I'll explain below)**

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 **(Percy POV)**

I sat leaning against a tree, trying to keep myself from passing out as I held the unconscious goddess in my arms. "I hurt you," I whispered to no one. I looked to her still face. I could see her breathing but I was worried that I had seriously hurt her. "I'm so sorry, Artemis. I lost control…"

I shifted her carefully to reach into her travel bag that hung from her back in search of Nectar or Ambrosia. Finding nothing, I dropped my hand into the snow. I felt like I might pass out at any moment but I couldn't, not until I got her some help. I turned my eyes up to the sky, the dark clouds quickly dispersing and being replaced with a bright blue sky, and called out as loud as I could in my weakened state.

"Apollo! Help!"

Within a second a blinding light appeared a few feet away from me. Revealing a tall, muscular blond man with a smile bright enough to blind you in a pair of beach shorts and an unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt.

"Hey, Percy, what's up-" His winde smile dropped as he saw his unconscious sister in my arms. He was at our side in a second. "What in _Hades_ did you to her?" He demanded, though I could tell that was wasn't angry at me, only worried for his sister.

"Sh- she got caught up in my energy." I said, my voice hoarse. "I think the air got pulled out of her lungs. She also got thrown around by an earth deity."

"An earth deity?" Apollo cried in shock, though wasting no time summoning some Nectar and pouring it down her throat. "You two are fighting an earth deity? We have to summon the council-"

"Were fighting it," I interrupted him, feeling myself growing weaker and wanting to explain everything before I passed out. "I managed to figure out that it was angry because of the illegal mining the townspeople were doing in its home and flooded the valley to stop anyone from entering it ever again."

I noticed Apollo give me a confused before turning to the valley behind us and gasping "by the gods" seconds before everything went dark.

oooOooo

 **(Artemis POV)**

I awoke to find my brother's shining smile above me. "Oh thank the Fates!" He cried. "I didn't want to risk moving you to my temple." I raised my head groggily and forced myself to sit up. I soon realized it was a terrible idea.

"Hey hey hey," My brother grabbed my shoulders and forced me to lay back down. "Don't even think about it, lil sis. You're in bad shape right now, you need rest."

"What happened?" I asked, my mind disorientated. "Why am I- Percy!" I sat up quickly, ignoring the blinding white hot pain. I gripped my brother's arm with enough pressure to crack stone. "Where is Percy? What happened to him? Is he-"

"He's fine, sis." Apollo cut me off. He put a hand on my my shoulder and pointed to a tree next to us with his other hand. Percy lay on a golden blanket at the base of the tree. He wasn't moving but I could see his chest move faintly as he breathed.

He was alright.

"Thank the Fates." I let out a sigh of relief and gestured to him with my head. "Take me to him." I told my brother. He looked at me like I was crazy for even suggesting that I be moved but when I gave him a glare he let out a sigh and nodded.

I would like to say that I was able to walk to Percy on my own, but that would be a lie. Apollo almost carried me the entire way. Once next to Percy I dropped to the dry grass around the blanket. Apollo did have some uses, it seems, his ability to melt the waist high snow turned out to be quite convenient.

"Percy… I'm sorry that I could not be more help." I muttered as I looked upon his sleeping form. "But thank you for everything. If it were not for you, the entire town would have been slaughtered. Myself included. I am forever in your debt."

Apollo cocked his head to me in question. "So I've been able to piece together most of the story, I think." He started. "But now that you're awake how about you tell me what the _Hades_ you two were doing fighting an earth deity?"

I told him. If his eyes grew any wider from shock they would have burst from his head. "So somehow Percy managed to talk to the beast and used his power to control an enormous amount of earth and water. But for what purpose, I do not know."

Apollo's lip curled in a smirk. "I was planning on not letting you get up for awhile but I think you need to see this." He stood and offered me his hand. I raised my brow at his action but accepted it nonetheless and he helped me to my feet. It was a slow walk to the cliff edge even though the distance was short. Apollo did not let me overexert myself. When we finally reached the cliff I looked out over the valley and my breath caught in my throat.

Where a large, cliff-enclosed valley with century old trees and a mining camp once lay, a shimmering lake sat in its place. "By the gods…" I whispered. "Did Percy do this?"

Apollo gave me a shrug. "I don't know," He admitted. "I've never seen this place before, but Percy told me that he flooded the valley. So I assume it was him. Though," he reached down and touched the earth. "I sense some of the nature deities power flowing as well. I think that it granted Percy some of its power."

My eyebrow raised. "You do not believe that Percy did this himself?" I asked.

Apollo shook his head. "No, at least I don't think he filled in the opening of the valley with earth. Even he isn't that powerful. That would have required the power of a god." His eyes drifted over the newly formed lake. "But I think he controlled the water himself, the earth deity would not have control over the water." He gave a long whistle. "Though I would gladly pay anything to see him control such power."

"No you wouldn't" I mumbled before I could think.

My brother gave me a questioning look. "Why not?" He asked. "I think even father would have been impressed with what he did."

"It was terrifying…" I muttered, not allowing my mind to think back to what I saw. "I- I…"

Apollo sent me a cautious look. "You what?" He asked softly.

"I was scared of Percy," I admitted. "The sheer power he wielded at that moment rivaled that of a Primordial…"

My brother looked at me like I made a joke, chuckling he asked, "You can't be serious, sis. That's not possible-"

"It felt like I was watching _Chaos_ shaping the world." I said quickly, cutting him off. I sent him a hard look that said that I wasn't joking. His face paled and the glow and temperature around him dropped considerably.

"Y-you're serious?" He asked, though he knew the answer. I nodded my head. "Oh my gods…" He mumbled, looking over the new lake as if he were looking at it for the first time. He took it all in before looking back towards me, his voice turning serious. "We can't tell father."

I nodded. "I agree. He already believes that Percy plans to overthrow Olympus. This would only fuel his paranoia."

"There's no telling what he or the others would do if they found out Percy could do-" He gestured around us. "-this. You know as well as I that there is conspiring on the council. We may not be able to prove it, not like it would do us any good, but it is happening."

Every once in awhile my brother would surprise me. He was much smarter than he seemed to be, preferring instead to appear dim to avoid work. I did not consider that he would have the same suspicions as I. Though I should have in retrospect, he was there when the Prophecy was foretold of course. It was given through his body after all.

"This damned Prophecy has Ares and father in a frenzy." He mentioned. "There has already been several meetings without Poseidon in attendance. I do not believe uncle knows of Ares' schemes."

"Ares and father's schemes," I corrected him. "It was father who ordered Percy on that suicide mission to face the Leviathan alone."

"That's not all, sis." Apollo looked to me with worry. "You haven't been there for the last few meetings, Ares is slowly convincing the entire council that the best bet for Olympus to survive is for Percy to be killed before he fulfills the Prophecy."

"I will be in attendance from here on." I glanced over to Percy's sleeping form. "Father might listen to me and see reason."

Apollo smiled as if he knew something I didn't. "You're fond of him, aren't you?"

My breath hitched and I sent my brother a sharp look. "How could you suggest-"

"Woah woah woah," He held up his hands in surrender. "That's not what I meant, sis. I know you won't break your vow. I meant that you've gotten to know him, haven't you?" He spoke it more as a statement than a question, as if he knew the answer. Maybe he did.

"I have," I nodded. "We have spent the last three days in each other's company, and in that time I have learned what kind of man he really is."

Apollo looked to me like he wanted me to continue. "Go on," He gave me a prodding nod. "You can't just leave me hanging like that. What kind of man is he?"

"The greatest man I have ever known." I said without hesitation. My brother looked at me like I grew a second head. He returned to normal after a few seconds and turned serious again.

"We will have to something about Ares though," He let out a hard sigh. "Before he does something rash and causes a civil war between father and uncle Poseidon."

"If that happens I will fight with our uncle." I declared without hesitation.

My brother's eyes widened and he looked to the sky in fear, as if expecting to be struck down. "Don't let father hear you say that," He scolded me in a forced whisper. "That's insubordination. You know what he'll do to you if he thinks you'll betray him."

"My mind is made up." I said adamantly. "I will not stand idly by as Ares and father kill Percy because of the _slight_ possibility that he will pose a threat to Olympus." I scoffed. "If they knew him at all they would know that his loyalty wouldn't even allow him a single thought of betrayal."

"Well you know Ares," He mumbled. "He's had a grudge against Percy since day one. Now with the Prophecy saying that he's gonna be killed, he's lost all his senses."

A low moan from Percy reminded my brother and I that we were not alone. "We should take to my palace for healing." My brother rose and offered me his hand again. "You think you're up for Flashing?"

I nodded. "Yes. But let's make it wuikc. I need rest."

My brother helped me shuffle over to the unconscious demigod, we each placed a hand on his shoulder and Flashed to Apollo's palace.

oooOooo

 **(AN: Check out the Sneak Peek for more info on the Prophecy.**

 **Also follow me on Twitter! Yay another plug!)**

oooOooo

 **(Percy POV)**

It has been two weeks since I got back to Camp. Artemis and Apollo filled me in on everything that happened when I woke up. It was mostly fuzzy, but I was able to confirm Apollo's thoughts that the earth deity granted me its power to shape the valley into a bowl. I flooded it myself. Once I got back home I went straight to Annabeth and apologized for leaving. I could tell that she wasn't happy but she forgave me eventually when I said that I had to go to protect a town full of people. I didn't tell her that I practically died, however, I didn't want to scare her even more. I also didn't talk to her about us getting married either. It felt like something was telling me to wait so I listened to it. I've learned to trust my gut over the years.

Annabeth and I had just woken up and dragged ourselves to the freshly made coffee to drink the heavenly liquid when the doorbell rang.

"Oh who is it this time?" I grumbled.

"If that's Chiron with another mission for you, you can forget it." Came Annabeth's muttered reply. I kissed her on the cheek and headed for the door.

"I told you, Beth, I'm done with doing missions for the gods."

I heard her snort from the other room. "I'll believe it when I see it."

The knocking continued and I felt what little patience I had this morning slip away. I was speaking before I fully opened the door. "If this is another mission from the gods, you can shove it up your hairy-" My eyes widened and I cut myself off when I realised who was standing outside the door.

An auburn brow rose above a silver eye. "Would you like to continue that sentence, Percy?" Artemis asked in level tone, though I could hear the playfulness in it. "I am curious to hear what the ending is."

"I would rather not." I mumbled, coming to my senses. "What are you doing here, Artemis?" I asked.

She wore a fake upset expression, looking behind me. "Is he always this blunt? Or is it just around me?"

"He's always like this." Annabeth's voice appeared behind me. I turned to see her stand next to me, taking a sip of her steaming coffee. She bowed her head respectfully to Artemis. "It is an honor, Lady Artemis. Would you like to come in?" She gestured inside.

"Artemis, please." She smiled to Annabeth. "Percy has earned my respect, so it extends to you. Please, call me Artemis." She gave Annabeth a sympathetic look. "I am interrupting your morning, aren't I?"

"No no," Annabeth waved off. "We were just getting up and making coffee. Would you like some, La- Artemis?"

"No thank you." She turned to face me. "I was actually wondering if I could borrow Percy for the morning?"

If Annabeth was surprised she didn't look it. She chuckled to herself. "Take him for the whole day," She waived off. "Piper and were going to have a girls day anyway."

"Perfect." The goddess' eyes shimmered. I could see a faint smirk on her lips. "If you would please get dressed, Percy, I would like to leave before long."

"But where are we going?" I asked. My mind still clouded in morning fog, trying to process the weird interaction between my girlfriend and Artemis. "And why are-"

"Oh go get dressed, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth pushed my further into our apartment. "You've done nothing but sit on your butt since you got home. Go out and do something."

"Yeah but-" Annabeth stepped outside and closed the door on me, leaving her and Artemis standing outside our door. "Well guess I better get dressed." I mumbled to myself, slowly making my way to our room.

oooOooo

After getting dressed I said goodbye to Annabeth and Artemis and I walked to the edge of camp and out of the entrance towards the road. I still had no idea what was going on, but to be honest it was nice to be with Artemis again. We built up a really close friendship on adventure together. Artemis stopped us at the bottom of the hill before the road.

"I never got to thank you for saving my life, Percy." She said suddenly, catching me off guard.

I shrugged. "It was nothing," I said. "You don't have to thank me-"

"But I want to." She said adamantly. "I am forever in your debt, Percy. I have come today with a gift of thanks." She started to walk up the hill and I followed.

"Gift?" I asked.

She nodded. "Yes. I assume that you have not forgotten that your car is now at the bottom of a lake?" She asked as we neared the top.

"Uh, no?"

"I felt sorry for being the reason why it was destroyed, so I had Hephaestus build you a new one."

"Wait what?" I asked as we reached the top of the hill. She gestured towards a vehicle sitting on the side of the road. My breath escaped my lips.

It was a large, modified, royal blue Ford Raptor. From the faint glow of the metal it looked like it was made of Celestial Bronze. "Is-" I had a hard time forming a thought. "Is it made of Celestial Bronze?"

The goddess next to me nodded, pulling out a slip of paper from her pocket. "I have to admit that I know nothing about mortal vehicles. I only asked Hephaestus to build you the best vehicle that he could." She gestured to the truck. "This is what he gave me."

"...Wow." Is all I could say.

"Yes, _wow_." Artemis chuckled, looking down at the paper in her hands. "Hephaestus gave me this, it explains all of the inner workings and modifications he made." She handed it to me and I read it over as quickly as my dyslexia would allow.

"Celestial Bronze paneling and frame, skid plate and exterior." I continued. "Custom stain-proof white drakon hide interior, waterproof and fireproof, one foot wider and six inches wider than the base SuperCrew variant... Repeating crossbow in the door?" I questioned when I read it.

The goddess let out a sigh. "Yes, Hephaestus was rather excited to be able to work on a mortal vehicle so he added some… additions to it."

"Additions?" I asked. "Like what?"

She gestured to the note in my hands. "Read and find out."

So I did, reading out loud. "Indestructible drakon/hydra hide combination tires? One inch thick glass? An 'enlarging enchantment' in the cab and bed? What does that mean?" I asked Artemis in confusion.

"It is like the tents that my hunters use," She explained. "While it appears to only be able to fit five people, it can actually fit eight in the cab." She led me to the bed of the truck and pushed a button on the back, a hard-cased camper popped up from seemingly nowhere. "The bed also stores a hidden camping unit that fits sleeps up to eight as well. The entire camper is completely stocked with individual beds, counters, kitchenette and bathroom."

My eyes were the size of dinner plates as we looked inside the 'camper' on the bed of the truck. It was like an entire apartment it there. Screw camping in a tent, all I'd have to do is pull over on the side of he road, pop up the camper and have a fully stocked apartment right there.

I turned to Artemis, my head shaking. "This is amazing… but I can't accept it."

"Of course you can." She looked to with and gave me a look that dared me to refuse. "Your vehicle got destroyed helping me, it was the least I could do to get you another one."

My eyes roamed over the ginormous truck before me. "But it's so huge and cool and badass-"

"Well now you have a vehicle that suits you, Percy." She joked. "Hephaestus assured me that this vehicle was nigh indestructible. He said that if you managed to actually break it that he would be surprised. _Though_ he also said that if you destroyed his 'baby' that he would kill you."

"Well that's reassuring." I mumbled, looking back over the note in my hands. "Says here that it could take a hit from a giant… impressive. It also says that because of the Celestial Bronze and modifications that it weighs just over 8k pounds **(3,628kg)**. Jeez." I let out a low whistle. I took a step back and just took in the enormous vehicle. It was raised up several more inches with larger, off road tires, flared fenders, large lights atop the roof, a sturdy Celestial Bronze push bumper and winch… All in all it was the most beautiful truck I had ever seen. I wasn't much of a car guy, never had been, but even I could admit that this truck was amazing.

And it was all mine.

But looking at it I could see the glaring drawback.

"I live in New York City," I said, looking towards Artemis who was just silently watching me look at the truck. "Where am I going to park it? It takes up an entire lane."

The goddess' smile faltered, then frowned. "That is a good question. _Damn it_ ," She swore to herself. "I should have asked Hephaestus to make it able to compact like our tents." She walked up to me with an apologetic look on her face. "I'm sorry-"

"Don't be." I cut her off quickly. "You had this amazing truck made for me by _Hephaestus_ of all people. How can I be upset at all?" I shrugged. "Nah, I'll think of something. It'll mostly stay at Camp anyway."

She smiled and I felt myself smiling too. "That is good," She muttered. "I thought that I would have to punish you for your disrespect-"

"Whatever, smelly-feet." I cut in before wisely stepping out of her reach.

" _Excuse me?_ " She cried. "You did _not_ just call me that."

"Actually I did."

Her eyes narrowed dangerously, though I could see her fighting back a smile. "Oh well," She sighed dramatically. "Guess I won't give you your other gift then-"

"Other gift?" I asked, bringing me back to my senses. "Artemis, you didn't have to get me another one."

She waved off my words. "Nonsense," She said. "This is more than a simple gift." She opened her hand and a small silver whistle in the shape of a deer appeared in her palm. She handed it to me. "That is the same kind of whistle that I use to summon my Hunters. Blow on it three times and my hunters and I will come to your aid."

She gave me a stern look. "This is for emergencies only, Percy." She explained. "Only use it if your life's in danger."

I nodded, looking at the small silver whistle in my hand. "Understood."

"Lovely." She smiled.

"But I just have one question."

I saw her thin brow raise slightly. "Yes?"

"What if I just want to hang out? How do I contact you?" My voice was so serious I think it took her a few seconds to process what I said.

The goddess broke out into stifled laughter, barely able to control herself. "Offer a burnt food offering to me, I will contact you when I can."

I smiled. "I'll make sure to do that."

She only rolled her eyes at me. "One last thing," She said, her voice turning more serious. "By giving you that whistle I have made you an honorary member of my Hunt. I cannot grant you my blessing, as it is only available to females, but as of now I will consider you a member of my Hunt."

I blinked a few times. "Are you sure-"

"Yes." She cut me off. "You have earned it, Percy. I truly mean that." She smiled to me as we made our way to the driver side of the truck. "You have proven that you deserve the honor more than any other male I have ever met."

"Wow…" Was all I could say for a few seconds. "Thank you."

She pointed to the whistle in my hand. "That will prove you a member of my Hunt. Any Hunter will recognize it and, _though grudgingly_ , will assist you if you ask." She looked to the sky, looking at something I couldn't see. "We Hunters stand together, if you are ever in need, you only need use the whistle, and my Hunters and I will come and wage holy war."

Her bold choice of words stunned me for a few seconds. It was like if she knew something I didn't. Like she was _expecting_ something to happen. "What do you-"

"Come," She broke me off. "I wish to take a ride in your new vehicle."

I recognized her blatant change of topic and decided it was best to follow along. I shrugged and gestured to the passenger door, telling her to get it. "We can go get some burgers and apple pie."

Her reaction was instantaneous, she broke the limited gap between us and gripped me in a tight hug. "You are truly the greatest man I have ever met." She squealed before racing into the passenger seat at lightning fast speed, telling me to hurry and get in.

It is gonna take some time to get used to having this particular goddess as a friend, but I'm sure that I can get used to it.

* * *

 **(Author's Note)**

 **Thanks so much for reading.**

 **So how about that Artemis POV at the beginning? Yeah, I didn't plan it, it just happened. I hope that her reaction and behavior seemed in character for the Artemis I have created in this story. Let me know what you thought.**

 **So apparently Annabeth wants out of the Greek world and to live a normal life. A big argument happened off-screen, but happened nonetheless. What do you guys think about it?**

 **Was that big baddie foreshadowing? I don't know, you'll have to read "Champion of Olympus" once it comes out to find out.**

 **Talking about that, I want everyone to know that I will be coming out with more Prequel stories after this, they actually take place before this one. They are set ups for my story and are a key part of the plot and relationships between characters. Want to learn how Percy and Annabeth moved in together? Well you'll have to read my next Prequel Story. The next Prequel Stories will be separate stories to help split them up and keep them straight from each other. I guess they can also be read as solo stories if you want. Let me know if I should split them up or include them all in one single story.**

 **Was Percy too OP? Let me know. I hope it's believable that he'd have that power when assisted by a minor deity. I dunno, it was just for the story.**

 **So this chapter was originally called "A Goddess Buys Me a New Truck" but I decided to change it early on. This entire Prequel story was supposed to be light and funny, with nothing too serious. You can see how long that lasted.**

 **So the Sneak Peek will be coming out soon, don't have a complete idea what it'll be but it'll include the Prophecy that Artemis and Apollo talked about in this chapter.**

 **Sorry about any typos or spelling mistakes, I'd normally do more read throughs but its almost 3am and I want to get this chapter out asap. I got up at 8am yesterday, now I'll throw my entire sleeping schedule off again, sigh, but it's worth it to get this done. Hope you all liked it. Also we're at 93 pages in total, fyi. This has already gotten out of hand.**

 **Please leave a Review, telling me what your favorite ship is. I'm Percabeth like most people but I also really like Pertemis. Please Follow and Favorite, fill out my Poll and Follow me on Twitter.**

 **I'll see you guys next time for the sneak peak! It'll be out asap,**

 **Hephaestus**


	4. Sneak Peek: Enter The Hunter(rewrite)

Champion of Olympus Sneak Peek: Enter the Hunter

 **(Author's Note)**

 **(Quick note here, this is a rewrite. I rushed this chapter to get it out before work and I'm honestly not happy with it. So I'm gonna revise it. I'll mostly do small, grammatical/structural edits, but I will also be lengthening some scenes here and there. Please let me know how you liked the changes with a Review)**

 **Hey everyone! This is the Sneak Peek for "Champion of Olympus". There WILL be more Prequel Stories before it, though, so Follow ME do get notified when they come out.**

 **We get a look at a new character in this preview as well as the Prophecy Artemis and Apollo spoke about last chapter.**

 **I hope you all enjoy it, please please please leave a Review, Follow, Favorite, and all that jazz. Please also vote in my Poll on my Profile and Follow me on Twitter.**

 **(*1)Brobdingnagian means giant. It's the race of giants from Gulliver's Travels.**

 **Please read the AN at the bottom! Thanks!**

* * *

Champion of Olympus Sneak Peek: Enter the Hunter

 **(Dec/1/2010. Location: Temperate forest, North America. Time: Early Morning)**

A mammoth figure stalked silently through the thick, lush trees, making no sound and causing no movement in the brush around it, it was as if a phantom were drifting through the woods instead of a towering figure. No leaf crunched under its foot, no twig snapped, no bird chirped at its presence as it crept through the dense brush, it was as if were not even there. The unknown figure, enveloped in various animal pelts, skins and hides, with a myriad of antlers and horns decorating its shoulders and back like trophies, stilled at the subtle sound of a leaf under foot from over 100 yards away.

It raised it's slightly glowing wooden bow so slowly that it could have been mistaken for a statue, the figure drew an arrow from its quiver and knocked it in a single methodical, fluid movement. The arrow lay motionless for a full minute, the bow drawn, until another barely audible noise sounded from the swaying trees.

The arrow was released faster than the eye could track.

The arrow sliced through the tranquil morning air, through several bushes and between branches on several trees before finding its target after nearly half a minute. The barely visible, silver-speckled prey dropped instantly, a muffled 'thud' against the soft leaf-covered ground was all the sound it made, unnoticeable through the myriad of faint bird cries, wind drifting smoothly through the leaves and animals grazing in the warm morning sun. It was as if the forest did not even notice one of its inhabitants fell. No, the forest did not care that one of its protectors had just fallen, it was once the hunter, but today it was the prey.

The enormous figure dragged its newly killed prey silently behind it as it traveled through the dense underbrush and trees as if it were a part of nature itself. Finding the nearest clearing, the figure approached the lone tree at its center and unceremoniously skewered its prey to the tree off the ground with a sharpened wooden spike through the heart. Stopping a brief moment to close the prey's eyes with thick, callused fingers, the figure bowed its head, an inaudible murmur escaped its lips before it performed a gesture over it's heart, looking up at the sky. Taking the prey's now bloody silver travel bag, the large cloaked figure salvaged what supplies it could from its prey before melding back into the wall of trees and brush like it were never there.

The trap was set, the bait in place, the hunter ready.

oooOooo

Several lithe figures rushed through the dense trees, dancing around the brush and stone silently and without alerting the forest of their presence. The roughly dozen figures traveled in crude formation, eyeing the forest around them while constantly watching the back of the silver-speckled figure next to them. Searching for their missing sister.

The figure at the lead halted to a stop, raising a closed fist, commanding the others to follow suit. Silently, the agile figures spread out, raising their silver bows and drawing arrows. They moved as one into the clearing, each step in unison as they neared the lone tree in the center. Drawing closer the eleven figures all gasped, lowering their bows and staring wide eyed in shock at the sight before them. "Gods above…" One of them mumbled.

One of the smaller figures dropped her bow and rushed to her fallen sister in haste. The girl at the lead reached out to stop her sister, but it was too late.

"Sarah, wait!"

As the young girl reached her sister, an arrow silently sliced through the air and into her head, killing her instantly. The silver-speckled girl dropped to the leaves with a soft 'thud'. Her remaining ten sisters raised their bows in unison, spinning around to aim their silver bows in the direction of the arrow.

"Show yourself!" Cried the hooded girl at the lead. "You _dare_ attack the Hunters of Artemis? Our Lady will kill you for your-" An arrow through the neck silenced the girl of fifteen. Her body dropped to the earth, her sisters scattering like roaches.

"Evasive maneuvers!" Cried one of the Hunters, throwing out orders in rapid succession. "Haley, circle around! Wendy, cover her! Lizzy, call Lady Artemis, we may need-" The enormous cloaked figure flew from the trees at a speed that would make a child of Hermes envious and swung its elbow into the commanding Hunter's chest.

"Aaahhh!" The girl cried, being knocked back several dozen feet. After rolling a few times the girl managed to stop herself and climb to one knee, holding her throbbing chest as the white-hot flashes of pain consumed her. She could feel at least three broken ribs, though she could possibly have more. If she didn't receive medical attention soon, one of her ribs could easily pierce her lungs killing her almost instantly. But the girl shook away those thoughts, her sisters were fighting for their lives and she was the eldest one among them now, it was up to her to see her sisters back to Lady Artemis safely.

Blinking away the pain, the Hunter rose to her feet just as two more of her younger sisters fell to the cloaked figure. One of their arms being pulled from its socket with a deafening cry from its body. The second Hunter made no noise as her head was snapped backwards with a massive fist to face her fellow sisters. The snapping sound, however, filled the entire clearing.

What proceeded could only have been described as a slaughter. The Hunters of Artemis were formidable warriors, being immensely more skilled than the average camper, but they stood no chance against the cloaked figure that could snap their bows and bones with his bare hands. Arrows merely bounced off of his golden cloak harmlessly as he cut a swath through the next set of Hunters.

One of the more experienced Hunters, Ashley recognized her as Danni, nimbly danced around the six foot eight **(203.2cm)** hooded man.

Yes, Ashley could now recognize this beast as a man under the glowing golden cloak and animal pelts. His bare arms could barely be made out as they flew out from the cloak in a series of moves that would make any professional martial artist jealous. His hulking arms, like coiled rebar, took the brunt of all the attacks that the Hunters sent his way. The way he shrugged off kicks, punches, daggers, strikes from the bows, and arrows themselves with his bare forearms scared Ashley even more. She watched in awe as this brobdingnagian **(*1)** man caught arrows in his bare hands and used them to impale another Hunter to a tree a foot off the ground.

"What in _Hades_ name is this man?! Some sort of minor god or Titan?" Lizzy's fear-filled cry shook Ashley to her senses. Only six of her sisters were remaining until the mountainous man used Wendy's body as a shield and then as a projectile and threw her at another Hunter. Make that five.

"Call Lady Artemis!" Ashley yelled to her sister as she jumped next to her, recognizing her as Lizzy. "What are you waiting for? We need her right now!"

"I tired!" Lizzy called back, letting loose a barrage of arrows only to have them bounce harmlessly off of the golden animal pelt that hung around the mysterious man's shoulders like a cloak. "But she's not responding!" Lizzy blew on a silver whistle again to demonstrate. "Something's wrong, she's never ignored our calls before!"

The Hunters watched in tearful awe as another one of their sisters fell at the man's feet. He moved so fast that it was hard to determine his features, but Ashley could swear that he had a smile on his face. That pissed her off even more, causing her to see red. Drawing her hunting dagger she turned to her sister as she did the same.

"We are the Hunters of Artemis!" Ashley yelled her rallying cry to her remaining five sisters. "We will not fall to this man! Come on, sisters! Let us slay this bastard for our fallen sisters and for Lady Artemis!"

"For Lady Artemis!" Come their combined replies.

"Come at me, filthy male!" Lizzy cried as she raced towards the towering man and jumped at him, her blade aiming for his neck. "My blade thirsts for your blood-"

The imposing man turned faster than the eye could see and caught Lizzy by her head with a single, beefy hand. He held her like that, arm extended fully as Lizzy kicked and slashed at him to no avail because of the distance. Lizzy sent the man a glare that could have scared a Titan before spitting in his face.

"Do your worst, filthy male!" She cried in defiance. "You do not frighten me, my Lady will-"

'Crrrccchhh!' The massive man squeezed his bare fist around her head with a sickening 'crunch'. The remaining four Hunters all stepped back, cries and gags escaping their lips. One of the Hunters even threw up at the sight of her sister's brains and blood dripping to the ground through the thick fingers of the burly man.

Without preamble, the cloaked man tossed the lifeless body to the ground behind him as if it were nothing worth his time. He stepped towards the remaining girls, his giant foot shaking the earth and causing the four girls to step back in fear. All of the fight had drained from their eyes. The realization had finally set in, _they were going to die_. Ashley could see that they were about to drop their weapons, so she spoke up.

"Do not surrender, sisters!" She cried to them, raising her blade in protest. "Even if we die, will will have died in service of Lady Artemis! We will run forever in the Fields of Elysium with our fallen sisters! Let us not let them have died in vain!"

Her three sisters seemed to catch a second wind at her words and raced to the cloaked man with a yell that could have shaken Mount Olympus. "For Artemis!" The all cried before screaming with all of their might as they ran at the man.

But it was no use.

The man before them, who had seemingly gotten bored of them, dashed to meet them at a blinding speed, grabbing the throat of two of the girls, one in each hand, he clenched his fist, killing them instantly. The third Hunter, the youngest, Molly of only ten, was next to fall as her petite body was crushed under the bodies of her sisters as the man used their lifeless bodies as weapons, lifting the two bodies in the air above his head and slamming them onto the young girl. A muffled cry was all the sound the little girl could make until she joined her sisters in _Hades_.

Ashley held back her tears as she rose defiantly to face the man, her hunting dagger raised in a show of fearlessness and defiance. The behemoth of a man rose to his feet slowly and turned to face her, dropping the lifeless bodies of her sisters unceremoniously. Silently he crept up to her slowly before stopping a dozen feet in front of her. Ashley could now see him in full detail. He was truly enormous in both height and size. He wore traditional Spartan boots and greaves. His waist was covered by a leather and hide wrap that hung loosely in the wind. A large Celestial Bronze and leather belt harness rose up to the top of his abs. His muscled chest was otherwise bare, bar a leather strap that slung across his chest and held his cloak in place. A large Celestial Bronze ornate lion head with an open mouth sat at the center of the belt harness. Atop his shoulders sat a glowing golden animal pelt that Ashley could now differ was from a lion. The large lion skin, _far_ larger than any mortal lion that had ever lived, flowed down to his ankles, drifting in the light wind, making him seem like he stepped out of a Greek mural.

Ashley dared her eyes to meet his face and stumbled back to the ground. He was an extremely handsome man -even to a Hunter of Artemis-, truly touched by Aphrodite, though his reddish-brown eyes, like amber, held his true nature. That of a hunter. He had a fews days growth of beard on his squared jaw, his face was hardened by smoke and battle, though no scars were visible on it. But what really made Ashley's heart stop was on top of his head. He wore the lion's head as a helmet, its glowing golden mane flowing out in all directions, catching the morning sun. The lion's upper jaw sat atop his head, as if his face were sprouting from its mouth. Ashley's breath left her as she stared at the imposing man in front of her. She had been in the presence of Lady Artemis, Apollo, Hermes and even _Ares_ , she had fought in the battle of Manhattan, but never before had Ashley ever felt the kind of presence this man was emitting…

...It felt as if she were facing the embodiment of might himself.

Without warning, the man closed the distance in a gust of wind, lifting Ashley by her silver-speckled camo cloak, bringing her to meet his eye. "You will get no satisfaction from my death, _male_." She spat the word 'male' like an insult. "I will not scream nor beg for my life. I will not give you the honor!"

With her useable hand, Ashley pulled a hidden blade from her belt and drove it into his arm with all of her might. The dagger only penetrated his skin a fraction of an inch before shattering against his skin. Ashley stared wide-eyed as her shattered silver dagger fell to the ground harmlessly. She looked up to the man's face slowly, all determination and fight gone from her eyes.

Her eyes met his and she shivered, her voice barely audible she spoke, "What kind of monster _are_ you?"

"I am but a man serving his mistress. Now," His deep baritone voice rumbled lowly in his throat, sending more shivers down Ashley's spine. "Tell me, where is _your_ mistress?"

oooOooo

 **(AN: Scared of this guy yet? Yeah, you guy haven't seen anything yet,**

 **Also Follow me of Twitter!)**

oooOooo

 **(6/5/2012 - Mount Olympus) (AN: After Percy earns his 'Title' and before he meets Artemis)**

The entire Olympian council, bar Poseidon, sat on their respective thrones in silence. They all knew the reasoning for this meeting, though no one knew how to start it. But Ares gave it his best shot.

Slamming his fist onto the arm of his throne he bellowed to his fellow gods. "Are we here to sit in silence or are we here to talk?"

"Calm yourself, Ares." Athena's calm voice spoke out. "We all understand _why_ we are here, but some of us-"

" _Most_ of us." Apollo cut in, earning himself a glare from the goddess of Wisdom.

"But some of us are not sure that this is the best course of action." She finished, her chin held high.

"Not the best course of action?!" Ares questioned, unable to understand what he was hearing. "You all saw what that _bastard_ of an upstart did in Greece! He destroyed half of the mountainside! When are you all going to see that he's a threat to Olympus?!"

"When he proves himself to be one." Artemis spoke out from her silver throne.

Ares gestured wildly to the scene of carnage that was hovering before them. "He's already proved himself to be a threat!" The god of War cried. "On top of that he has now been granted with godly domains! He is the most powerful mortal to ever live! He _repeatedly_ refuses to accept immortality! And do you know why?"

"Why?" Artemis asked, her voice amused.

"Because he wishes to take our thrones by force!" Ares answered angrily.

This caused all of the gods in attendance to start talking all at once, voicing their opinions and demanding to be heard.

"You cannot be serious." Artemis spoke harshly.

"Percy would never do such a thing!" Apollo cried, bewildered.

"You're out of your mind, Ares." Hermes yelled.

"We have no reason to suspect Percy of such things-" Hephaestus started.

"You are merely miffed that young Perseus defeated you in battle, Ares." Athena cut in.

Ares slammed his fist down again. "Why you book loving-"

"Enough! Silence!" Zeus slammed his Master Bolt to the ground, causing Olympus to shake and the other gods to silence themselves. He turned to Ares. "You know of my extreme distaste for my nephew, but this is a serious accusation, Ares. What _proof_ can you provide that Perseus will be a threat to Olympus?"

Ares made to speak but Apollo's sudden rising from his throne surprised the throne room. "Apollo," Zeus bellowed. "What are you-"

Green mist rose from his eyes, mouth and ears while the temperature dropped considerably around him. Apollo's mouth opened as wide as physically possible, but instead of his voice, three high, gravely female voices spoke in unison.

" **Olympus beware the Mortal of Might**

 **The heir shall strike War and Love in the night,**

 **A long forgotten foe shall rise, an Angel and Lion in disguise**

 **The Mount shall fall and the Sky will rise,**

 **The Son shall follow the fate of those before**

 **And slay his father at the door"**

Without warning, Apollo's body slumped to the floor. His sister, Artemis, was at his side in an instant. Just as the gods in the room exploded.

"The Fate Sisters have delivered another Prophecy." Hades spoke stoically from his throne.

"What does it mean, 'The Mount shall fall'?" Hephaestus asked. "Is it referring to Mount Olympus?"

"Does the sky refer to Ouranos?" Hera cried. "I thought that he had faded!"

"Beware a mortal?" Demeter asked, astonished as she held some grain as if it were her lifeline. "The only mortal that _could_ pose a threat to Olympus _would_ be young Perseus."

"We must wait until Apollo wakes until we jump to any conclusion!" Hermes yelled.

"A long forgotten foe? Does that refer to-" Aphrodite was cut off by an explosion of electricity.

"Silence!" Zeus roared. " We will discuss this-"

"You see, you see?!" Ares interrupted him, a very risky endeavor. "'The Son shall follow the fate of those before and slay his father at the door'." He smiled to his fellow gods like he had finally pieced everything together.

"'The Son shall follow the fate of those before' refers to how the son _always_ overthrows the father." He turned to Zeus, his eyes flaming wild. "Like how you killed your father, as his father did before him! Percy will kill his father and take his place! Kill all of Olympus as well!"

Athena cut in. "I do not believe-"

Ares slammed his spear to the ground. "Did you not hear the part about War and Love?!" He cried wildly. "Percy will kill me and Aphrodite as well!"

Hephaestus rose from his throne, a flaming sword appearing in his hand, putting his other hand protectively in front of his wife. "That _will not_ happen!"

"Silence!" Zeus bellowed. He sat back in his seat gruffly, seemingly weighing all of his options. He turned to Athena. "What say you, daughter?"

Athena's brow raised in thought. She remained silent for several minutes. "I believe that we must take this Prophecy seriously, father." She gestured to Ares. "I do not believe it coincidence that the Fates gave us this Prophecy when Ares was talking about a threat to Olympus. Though we can not be sure that Perseus _is_ the threat in the Prophecy."

"Minotaur-shit!" Ares cried, his throne aflame. Zeus sent him a dangerous look and the War god silenced himself and sat back down.

Zeus took in her words and sat on his throne in thought. "I have had my suspicions about Perseus since the beginning, he is not to be trusted. We must make preparations… just in case." He turned towards Athena. "Begin planning, Athena. We will be prepared for when Perseus attacks Olympus."

Hera turned to her husband, placing her hand on his arm. "Should we tell Poseidon, dear? It _is_ his son-"

"No!" Ares bellowed. "Poseidon will side with his spawn, we can't tell him! We will lose the element of surprise. Most battles are won because of a solid first strike!"

Zeus nodded his head. "We shall vote on it."

Apollo woke in Artemis' arms. He looked around the throne room with a confused look. "What did I say?" He asked, rubbing his throbbing head.

"Something that very well might have doomed Perseus' fate, my brother." She lowered her voice to a whisper. "Come, we must make preparations."

* * *

 **(*1)Brobdingnagian means giant. It's the race of giants from Gulliver's Travels.**

* * *

 **(Author's Note)**

 **Dun dun duuunnnnn!**

 **So there's the Prophecy for "Champion of Olympus". Fyi, that scene happened after Percy earned his Title and before he and Artemis traveled together. That's why Artemis called Percy 'Perseus'.**

 **We also saw my OC for "COO" as well. He's brutal. You guys have** _ **no idea**_ **how excited I am to have him finally show up. PLEASE, speculate below who you think he is. He'll be an important character going forward. I want to know what you guys are thinking. In case you're interested, I have an concept image for him that I got from a Hercules comic book on my Twitter. It should be the pinned tweet.**

 **Don't when the next Prequel Story will be out but please Follow me to get notified when it comes out!**

 **Thanks so much for reading! Hope you all enjoyed it! Please follow me on Twitter to get updates, a reference image for the mystery man as well as to vote on polls and just talk about nerdy stuff. I have six followers, so I'd love some more that are actually Percy Jackson fans.**

 **Have a great day, and until next time, this has been Hephaestus.**


	5. Champion of Olympus is out! Go Read it!

Update: Champion of Olympus Is Out

(12/31/18)

(2/4/19 edit - I could have sworn that I put out this chapter with the release of the main story of 'Champion of Olympus', but it seems that I didn't. It seems that I somehow forgot to upload this AN telling you all about it, sorry about that. I really don't know what to say. We're up to chapter 4 right now, not including the prequel stuff that I included, ch5 will be out asap. Well, uh, on to my old message)

Hey everyone, Hephaestus here to let you all know that 'Champion of Olympus' is out! I decided to put it as a new story under the name 'Champion of Olympus'. So just look it up or go to my Profile and find it. You could also Follow/Favorite me to get notified when future stories come out. Just saying. )

If I decide to fully write out the other prequel stories/stuff then they'll be added here. But the main story is going to be under a different story, so don't keep checking this one for new chapters. Don't know what the update schedule will be but if I start to slack off just yell at me to get my butt in gear.

That's all for now, just go over and read the first chapter of 'Champion of Olympus'. I hope to see all of you over there.

Have a great day and happy New Year,

Hephaestus


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